Demonic Bioengineering
by Aishata
Summary: What if the Fox really did aim to kill it's host? What if it almost had succeeded, and Naruto had survived?
1. Consciousness

A/N: It would be great if you leave some reviews, or just let me know that you've stuck to the end of the chapter. Negative reviews tend to depress me and lack of reviews un-motivate me, but allowing me to know that someone out there is reading this encourages me.

So please, keep the bunny happy. ^_^

Note: I'm never going to be arrogant enough to assume that my story is more than decent. So sorry.

Sarutobi looked fixedly at the body of his student's lineage. This was Naruto Uzumaki, son of Minato Namikaze, and the boy's health and strength were ebbing. He had noticed it since the beginning of the death god's seal, the abnormal respiration cycles in his body. It was like a cross between a stroke and asthma, except far more profound. Sarutobi feared that this day would be the last day Naruto would live, and that the fox would be released again.

The fox…Sarutobi had done much research the past few years. Usually, when a host died, a tailed beast would be released to gather chakra from its surroundings to take on new shape. Sometimes this process took ten years. Sometimes this process took a hundred years. But Kanoha couldn't afford that process to happen, a hundred or ten years from now.

Jinchuuriki… was another dilemma that Sarutobi had researched in to great depths. How much control a host could have over its beast greatly depended on the nature of their chakra coils, and the body's natural affiliation for youki. The Uzumaki had always had a lineage of incredible chakra coils, courtesy of indirect relations with the Senju clan, but now, Sarutobi feared it wasn't enough.

He let out a shuddering sigh. It wasn't enough after all. Naruto was only five years old, but he was over a hundred. His heart was weary, his body was anemic, and it was inevitable that he would step down from the Hokage position sooner or later. He had wished to groom the only surviving heir of the Namikaze and Uzumaki clans, but that plan had gone horribly awry. He could only stare outside to watch the birds chirp, but they did nothing to alleviate his mood.

"Sarutobi-sama," the medic-nin hesitantly spoke. "There is not much we can do."

"Is this what we have come to?" Sarutobi asked one of his most trusted jounins.

"Yes," he said sadly. "You have work to do."

He shook his head morosely.

"Leave me alone with the boy for a few moments."

The jounin nodded and left. Soon after, Sarutobi left as well, intent on arranging a funeral.

Inside, Naruto, for the first five years of his life, battered an eyelid open.

….

The fox could only note in mute horror as the boy's organs suddenly revived themselves. His youki was being drained from him, and the boy's chakra by which was on the breaking point, suddenly counter-attacked and started to _absorb_ the youki.

Five years. Five long years of work pushing heaps of youki through the hole in the seal as much as he could. He anticipated success during those five years as he slowly corrupted the boy's chakra coils and reduced the boy to a cripple.

But now the boy was _changing _the very nature of his chakra, essentially instead of marking the fox's youki as an antigen, marked it as its own. Impossible.

He roared. Every movement of his body brushed against the cage. It was claustrophobic to him, claustrophobic for the last three generations. He remembered the first host he had been sealed into, and how much he panicked when he could not break free. It was comparable to being stuffed between two mattresses, and being unable to get out. Except that his time, it was a cold, wet, hard mattress. It wasn't comfortable in the least.

He struggled to keep calm. Perhaps there would be another tactic to break free. Then he saw the boy.

He screamed, trashed against the cage, rattling the boy's inner-mindscape. But the boy gazed at him with limited understanding, head cocked to the side. Again and again, he roared at the boy, emitting shockwaves of air that buffeted his clothes and hair. No use. It would never be. Even death would be preferable to this dirty, filthy hole.

_That doesn't look very comfortable._

The fox's eyes narrowed. It was official; he was going insane from the sensory isolation. He glared daggers at the boy, as if challenging him to speak again. The boy merely gave him a look of confusion.

_Why are you so mad?_

_**Are you here to gloat!**_ He roared, not caring that the boy had been somehow speaking the unified patois. He was beyond caring.

_You're not very friendly._

_**Go away!**_

_I can make it more comfortable for you, you know._

That gave the fox pause.

_**Impossible.**_

_You know, you've been saying that for the past five minutes, _he pointed out.

The cage suddenly expanded, dropping the fox on the wet floor. The boy's eyes glittered with humor.

_See, told you._

The fox stared at him in wonder.

_Told you told you told you told you told you told you-_

_**Shut. Up!**_

The boy simply pouted while the fox furiously tried to process this information.

_**What do you want in return?**_ He asked suddenly. _**If you get rid of this wet floor?**_

The boy grinned and the wet floor was replaced with a spongy dry surface.

_Just get me out of here._

…..

Naruto awoke in a dark…thing. There was something wooden on top of him. He tried to command his arm to push him up, but he could only exert a mild force.

_Anyone out there?_

_Anyone out there?_

_Anyone out there?_

…

He tried again, louder this time, but no one seemed to hear him, despite the fact that he could hear a parade of murmurings outside. He cocked an eyebrow, feeling a bit annoyed.

_Man, they are just like, right there!_ He fumed.

He turned to only other solution.

Again, he exercised his arm and his abdominal muscles, to no avail.

_Come ooooooooon!_

_**Heh, I guess I can give you a little help.**_

Naruto was suddenly pumped out and shot out of the wooden irritating thing, right out the ceiling. Pain erupted throughout his entire body. But instead of caring, he was distracted by an impossible expanse of blue above him.

_Shiny…_

And he crashed down again.

…

_Why am I in here again?_ Naruto fumed.

_**You're having another near-death experience.**_

_Why are you such an asshole? I help you out and you shoot me out the room? What the heck is wrong with you? Are you retarded? Are you brain-damaged? Are you compensating for something? Or are you just lonely? You must be since you're trapped in here and maybe that would explain why you're such a- _

_**Stop whining. You're getting out sooner or later**_, the fox growled, letting his irritation get the better of him. He somehow felt like gloating about the boy's species and talking down to him, but he was far too embarrassed by the fact that a _human_ had freed him out of a dilemma he had tried for decades to break free from.

The fox frowned. He could still exert control of the boy's body to some extent and somehow kill him, but the boy might just drain his youki to heal himself, like the boy was doing this instant. The room was pretty comfy now anyway, and the fox forced down his pride at the thought that he was under the mercy of this human. He ignored the presence of the boy and curled himself in to a ball, the floor squeaking in protest.

The boy continued to sulk until he faded away from the room.


	2. Lunch

Chapter 2

_Kawarami!_

A palpable current of chakra materialized, and promptly dissolved into a gigantic wave of fart gas that billowed out of the rear end of the blond haired boy in his "concentration crouching" position.

Sarutobi took one look at the boy's efforts, and buried his head in his hands. Naruto paled. He didn't do _that _bad did he?

His worry was completely blasted away with the eruption of laughter and tears that streamed out of the hokage's face. Sarutobi wheezed for breath in an instance.

"You really suck."

Naruto's enraged face only made Sarutobi laugh harder. Both of Naruto's middle fingers were stuck up in the air. It took a few minutes for the third hokage to compose himself, but he finally ceased his full-out chortles for chuckles instead.

"Come on Naruto. Let's go shopping."

Naruto's signs of protests flailed wildly in the air before he simply settled for a pout instead. Naruto could never bring himself to disobey his jiji, but he really wanted to train more. So Sarutobi promised a bowl of ramen and watched as Naruto's face burst into a sunny grin. Sarutobi felt amused at how easy it was to manipulate the Uzumaki with the prospect of ramen.

Hand in tow, Naruto followed the Hokage around. The streets were filled with wide-eyed people at the sight of the pair, but none dared show the Jinchuriki disrespect in the hokage's presence. It was well-known that the old leader loved Naruto like a grandson. This did not stop the murmurings of discontent among the civilians however, and it had caused the civilian populace's general approval of the hokage to deteriorate. Of course, Sarutobi had hoped to shield the blonde-haired boy from the worst of it, but Naruto was always more perceptive than he let on. Deep down inside, Sarutobi was worried that the hyper-activeness and optimism was all just a façade.

_Ramen! Ramen!_ Naruto signed. They had just finished packing most of the essential commodities.

"Why are you so eager to go to the Icharaku's for ramen?" asked Sarutobi. "You know how to make it yourself."

_Che! Nothing is better than their ramen!_

The old leader laughed again.

_Well, there goes most of my treasury, _thought Sarutobi, though the hokage was far too rich to be even slightly affected by the boy's gargantuan appetite.

….

Naruto was five years old when he woke up from his near-death state. Sarutobi had remembered the boy as being incredibly frail after the boy had shot out through the wooden coffin, which, in comparison to Uchicha Madara's existence was one of the most shocking events that ever happened to him in his long life.

Immediately after Naruto's medical inspection, Sarutobi had seized the opportunity to be the guardian of the Jinchuriki. The council was in an uproar, especially the Uchichas, but Sarutobi had threatened to summon Enma, the monkey king, and Jaraiya, who was present, put in exactly what he thought about the council. After which, there had been no further argument.

It had been two years since, and he had never regretted his decision even though his son Asuma became further estranged with him (which he regretted sorely). Naruto, along with Kohomaru became very precious to him although he wished he had more time off during his duties as the leader. But if anything, his workload was increasing as well as his growing suspicions that the Uchicha family was planning a coup de' tat.

Naruto on the other hand, was simply an enigma that Jaraiya and Sarutobi had failed to piece together even years after his awakening. For one thing, the fact that he went from a decomposing state to completely alive and well was a phenomenon that Jaraiya had only just started to piece together. According to him, it was a miracle that Naruto was alive at all, as most Jinchuriki often failed to survive the integration of a tailed beast into the body, let alone use and control it. Over the years, generating theories for Naruto's survival just gave them both a headache.

Naruto's development of his character was another mystery. Although Sarutobi had often talked over his "corpse", which was not the ideal state for education, the young boy had emerged with a limited but still mind-boggling basic understanding of the language around him. One could expect far worse from a child exposed to youki that could kill a man with one tint, which expressed itself in Naruto's small build and damaged vocal chords. Yet, the boy was healthy. He had a very small chakra pool at "birth", but it increased so rapidly that the hokage estimated it to be at about Kakashi's level.

That rapid rate of expansion caused Jaraiya to tear up some of his documented theories on Naruto in a fit of rage.

Sarutobi thought that he ought to be happy about the fact that Naruto was healthy and possessed so much chakra, but several problems arose. One was the fact that every basic ninja art that Naruto attempted to do resulted in a spectacular display of failure. Perhaps it would have been better that Naruto never became a ninja at all, but Naruto was a Jinchuriki. Naruto was also looking more and more like his father every day, and sooner or later, everyone would figure out what Naruto's lineage was.

So no, Sarutobi was not naive enough to hope that the container of the Kyuubi and the son of the Yondaime would ever be able to escape the world of ninjas.

On the plus side, Naruto's lack of talent in ninjutsu did not extend to the arts of fuuinjutsu. Although Naruto had humongous problems in tackling the control of his chakra, he didn't seem to have the same issue with creating seals. Sarutobi could remember detailing a long and complicated process of making an explosive tag. Confident that the boy had no idea what he was talking about (thanks in part to Naruto's baffled face), Sarutobi had offered a few scrolls in sealing. Never would he have ever expected Naruto to learn the template for seal making, nor would he have expected Naruto to even start drawing one.

Eight months later, he had remembered bursting into the Sarutobi library to see Naruto with a pain-brush and a glowing matrix of strokes.

_This is the most logical thing I have ever seen, _signed Naruto with an innocent expression.

Sarutobi could still feel the relief that Naruto had not destroyed the entire village- badly made seals could do that. He could also still feel his anger at the boy for attempting such a dangerous process without his supervision, and he had completely forbid the boy from drawing seals without supervision.

Still, that seal had only been Naruto's first project. Though the effect of the seal was hardly useful (it could exert force that was only visible on objects like leaves), that was like scoffing at a toddler who could make a steam-powered boat with nothing but a manual on engineering.

So despite Sarutobi's feelings on the enigma that was Naruto Uzumaki, he was still very proud of his pseudo-grandson. And speaking of Konohamaru…

"Naruto-niichan!"

As fast as his short legs could take him, the toddler sprinted towards their direction, or at least tried to. With an urgent look on Naruto's face, Naruto rushed over and narrowly caught his pseudo-brother before he tripped.

_Speak of the devil, _thought Sarutobi.

He watched as Konohamaru's caretaker ran out into the street.

"Knohamaru, come back here!"

Anger was visible on the middle-aged caretaker as she loomed over the two kids. She caught one look at Sarutobi and recoiled.

"S-s-sarutobi-sama. I didn't see you."

The old professor sighed.

"Would you like to come for some lunch?"


	3. Plan

Endurance was something that factored heavily in Naruto's favor. This morning was Naruto's taijutsu practice with one of Sarutobi's summons. Instead of the brazen strategy that the hot-headed blonde had attempted in his beginning spars, the boy started to lean towards fighting deceptively, because in terms of taijutsu, he almost always got his ass kicked.

He sucked at taijutsu. The last two years under Sarutobi's tutelage allowed him to progress steadily, but nowhere near what he would have liked. He didn't nearly have the talent to pick up takas naturally, and implementing moves into his muscle memory took him longer than most people.

He scowled as the monkey shot forward with a fist, which Naruto had blocked, just barely. The seven year old sprung backwards and jabbed forward. Quick as lightning, the monkey ducked under his punch and instinct alone allowed the Blonde to parry the blow aimed at his groin.

"That's enough. Mutsubi, I want Naruto's balls in one piece."

The monkey grinned and Naruto scowled. The first time Naruto and Mutsubi had been introduced, Naruto had a _painful _experience. He watched as Sarutobi dismissed his regular sparring partner, but not before offering half a banana. Naruto winced as Sarutobi turned to him, anticipating himself for the esteem destroying critique.

"…Good job, Naruto."

Stunned, it took a few moments before Naruto managed a grin.

_I kicked ass, didn't I? _He signed.

Sarutobi merely smiled. Naruto thought that he looked distracted nowadays; he seemed to have more worry lines on his face and spent a lot longer in the tower. Naruto did what he could to help out with the paper work but…

"Naruto-kun!"

Naruto grinned at the sound of Ayame's voice.

"Ayame-neechan!"

"Naruto-oniichan! Jiji!"

Laughing, Ayame and Konohamaru waved as enthusiastically as the blonde waved. Sarutobi gave a mild smile.

"…Well, I'll see you guys at dinner time then."

Naruto frowned.

_You're back to the paperwork already?_

There was that smile again.

"Don't worry about it Naruto. I can't be hokage if you do all my work for me right?"

_But…_

"Join your friends Naruto."

The tone of voice gave Naruto pause as Sarutobi shun shinned away. As Ayame and Konohamaru reached their friend, they could only frown at the worry visible on Naruto's face.

"Naruto, Jiji will be fine!" exclaimed Konohamaru as he tried his best to reassure the person he had always looked up to.

…_Yeah,_ signed Naruto. And he shook his worry off. _So Ayame, need my awesome help again?_

The girl hit his head playfully.

"Treat your one-chan with more respect."

_You're too ugly to be my one-chan, _he signed.

Konohamaru smiled and nodded.

"Onii-chan is right!"

The playful smirk disappeared on both Naruto's and Konohamaru's faces as an aura of doom surrounded the enraged girl.

The resulting shockwave could be heard all over Konoha.

...

"Ayame, how hard did you hit them?" Teuchi asked, referring to the two boys with gigantic lumps on their head.

"I didn't mean to hit that hard…" whispered Ayame sheepishly.

"Ayame-neechan is evil…" whimpered Konohamaru as he carried some flour into the store. With a huff, he lowered the bags onto the floor, and immediately ran out to get more. Teuchi stared after him in wonder.

_He's very strong at his age…must be chakra…_

Teuchi had never planned to be surrounded by so many ninjas, and for good reason.

Usage of chakra set chakra practitioners apart from civilians because chakra was a component of nearly everything ninjas did. It was used sub-consciously in everything, from endurance to strength, from speed to silence. It explained why six year old ninjas could kill a group of grown men; it was the reason thirteen year old ninjas were considered legally adults. It was a process that never failed to make Teuchi muse, although he never once was jealous of the chakra practitioners. For a person with chakra, you were either outlawed and hunter-nins would be after you, or you were bound to the land of your allegiance. In his long life, he had seen ninjas forced into ANBU, kidnapped, killed…This was a ninja village after all, and sometimes even civilians would get caught up in the world of danger.

Was it wise for Ayame to have such a deep friendship with two budding ninja? It was something he had pondered a lot; there was always the possibility that they would be targeted because they were acquaintances of the Sandaime. Yet, the possibility of cutting Naruto out of their lives wasn't something that he could even consider, because Naruto had integrated into their lives so seamlessly.

He worried a lot, especially about Naruto. He was no fool; he knew that Naruto was a person subjected to a lot of hatred. It explained why Naruto always hid his face when he worked in the shop; he didn't want to affect their sales.

Said Naruto was at work threading the noodles. On the stove was a series of ladles that automatically spun when placed into any liquid. Every day, Naruto recharged the ladles' seals with his chakra. It took him the last six months under Sarutobi's supervision to implement the seals, which was a project he embarked on after the fifth time he was treated to a free ramen bowl.

Were the lengths the blonde went to "repay" the people around him healthy? It had taken one bowl of ramen and Naruto had clung onto them like they were his lifeblood…

Teuchi sighed. This was the world ninja after all; a world of mystery, darkness and danger. As a civilian, he had never actually tried to understand the workings of child soldiers until now. For a while, he absent-mindedly broiled the noodles in the pot below him.

"No, no. I'm telling you that you're supposed to put this much into the soup!"

"No no, it's this much. I've been helping in the ramen stand way longer than you, Konohamaru," Ayame admonished, a ladle in her hand.

Naruto as always, fixated all his attention on the ramen noodles in front of him. Working with seals translated into a gracefulness inscribed in the ramen he helped to make. He would have made a very good chef, if he ever decided to leave the ninja route. Teuchi waited until Naruto was finished with his batch before popping the question.

"Naruto, it's your birthday in a week, isn't it?"

The silence that occurred afterwards was profound and immediate. Konohamaru and Ayame instantly stopped arguing, Naruto's hands geared into a halt. A far-away look flashed through his eyes before he gave a thumb up. He would have grinned if his face was visible.

Another set of glances exchanged in the awkward silence that followed when everyone went back to work after Naruto's hand sign. Nobody missed the fact that Naruto's birthday was not mentioned again.

….

"You're trying too hard."

Sarutobi slammed his fist on the table, the undaunted face of Jaraiya showed no flicker of emotion.

"What the hell are they waiting for?" hissed Sarutobi.

Both Jaraiya and Sarutobi had been on edge ever since Itachi risked his life to confirm that the Uchichas were planning a revolt seven months ago. With their best efforts, Itachi had escaped the suspicion of the clan, but as every member of the clan had tracking seals placed on them after Shisui's death, Itachi could not find a safe way to relay information.

Thus, the toad sannin and third hokage were left with the information that yes, the Uchicha were going to revolt, but not when. And the Uchicha's tight security with seals and all made it really hard to procure evidence, not to mention that both of them strongly suspected that an outside force was funding the Uchicha.

They knew that the Uchicha was waiting for something, but not what. This was becoming such an issue that Jaraiya had stopped his information gathering in Ame just to investigate in Konoha. Unfortunately, he was getting absolutely nowhere. It was frustrating, and most of all, it hurt to be back in Konoha. He would give his life to protect it, but he would never be able to return to it.

"Naruto's birthday is in a week."

This particular tidbit caused Jaraiya to look up, partly out of interest and partly out of shame. Sarutobi's indirect reference to his limited interaction with Naruto stung.

"How is he doing? Do any of my recorded theories work?"

"I don't have the abilities or the time to test them," said Sarutobi. "But he's very good in fuiinjutsu, despite his inability to perform ninjutsu."

"Well, since I'm here, I'll pay him a visit," Jaraiya said. "But I have a new theory. I'd like to share it after I've confirmed it though."

"If only…"

Sarutobi sighed. "We can't dwell on the past."

Jaraiya could find no answer to that.


	4. Greetings

_Hello boy…hello…_

_Are you doing fine?_

There was a flash of memories to a time when Naruto was barely tall enough to put his elbows on the counter. A long time ago, ANBU had to escort him whenever he went outside. At that time, Naruto owned a body wrecked with coughs: a body that caused him pain because of the demon inside him.

When he had first met Teuchi, he had been a frail, sick child.

But…that expression was the first sentence that Teuchi had spoken to him when he had first visited the ramen store. Naruto could still remember the day when Teuchi had given an introduction at Ichiraku's; it had been one of those days where the Hokage had been so busy with meetings and mission assignments that Naruto had been left all alone. He could still remember the articulation of acknowledgement, words that he had only ever heard from his grandfather. If there was anything Naruto could describe that greeting as, it was of warmth. The stall had been warm as well, in that cold, rainy day.

However, that greeting was a greeting reserved for normal people. Naruto did not think of himself as a normal person, so he did not think that he deserved that greeting.

_Nobody wants to play with you…_

_Everybody hates you Naruto…_

_You've always been such a bad boy…_

Within the first eight months of Naruto's existence, he had been constantly put down. There was always that isolation that came with being a demon host; the cold shoulders and stares, the social isolation. Naruto had always felt like he belonged nowhere, despite his best efforts. It drove him to smile and make jokes, to act like a fool despite the fact that he stared at the backs of everybody.

_Hahaha…Naruto has always been such an idiot._

_You're so stupid Naruto._

Hahaha…he would laugh. He'd been called all sorts of things. Idiot. Dumbass. Retard. Freak. Loner. The funny thing was that after a while he began to believe the others. He _was _a dumbass, freak, retard, and loner. He had no friends except for his Jiji and he began to harbor thoughts of depression.

_Freak. _

He smiled a toothy smile; a smile belonged to him. He smiled even when the other kids threw ink balls at him. He smiled when the teacher roughly held him aside while everyone but him was allowed to pet a goat. He smiled until his grandfather eventually decided to home school him.

He smiled because he didn't know what else to do.

On most days, he spent all his time in the library reading books, because the library was so close to the Hokage office. But grandfather was unusually busy nowadays, so he couldn't take Naruto outside. Instead, Naruto ventured outside alone with ryo notes in his hand.

The first store he went to immediately recognized him, no doubt due to the whiskers in his face. The man had immediately raised his hand as if to hit him, but ANBU had stopped him immediately. Naruto left anyway.

He visited a variety of stores. No matter what, he elicited the same reaction until the ANBU came. Haha…it wasn't enough to have just the kids hate him. The ANBU gave him no comfort.

He just went back hungry and read his books. There were books on cooking and books on stealing. Books were his only friend; they didn't judge him or shun him. And once you got to know them, they were the most logical and intelligent entity you could ever have.

He thought all that, until he met the Ichiraku family.

…..

"_Hello boy? How are you? Would you like some ramen?"_

_Ramen? _

_Naruto had given a sad toothy smile._

_I've never had anyone make ramen for me before…_

…_.._

"_Hello Naruto. This is my daughter Ayame. Ayame, say hi."_

"_Hi," Ayame had said shyly._

_Naruto had waved._

"_Oh, that's right. Naruto can't talk Ayame."_

"_He can't?"_

"_He can't. He's mute."_

"_Wow."_

_Ayame had looked at him with sympathy in her eyes._

"_I'm sorry."_

_Its okay, he had scribbled. At five years old, he had a rudimentary grasp of language. He was just glad that someone had said hi to him._

_The girl had tilted her head and smiled._

"_Do you want to play?"_

_Teuchi and Ayame watched as a sunny grin lit up the young boy's face. Something stirred up within them; it was something they could feel._

_Ayame could only feel an overwhelming desire to see that face again. She ran out through the back and rushed to the front. _

"_Come with me!" she had urged Naruto. _

_She had taken his hand and pulled him away from the counter._

"_Let's go play hide and seek!"_

_She ran for a while and the boy had ran with her._

_But a strange sound buffeted her ears. _

_She looked back and saw the young boy hiding his tears as his entire shoulder area shook._

_This is also the first time anyone has ever played with me… _

…_.. _

"_Is she hanging around with the whisker boy again?"_

"_I heard that if you stab her she'll bleed soup. Just like her stupid dad."_

"_Don't insult my dad's ramen!" she screamed._

_She struggled against the hands that pinned her against the wall. But she couldn't get free from the three bigger boys. Something penetrated her side and hot pain shot up all the way up her back. The boys withdrew a jagged rock with blood coating the tip._

"_Help!" she screamed with terror. _

_Eyes blurred with pain as the rock was stabbed into the other side. She coughed; she could hardly stand up now. _

Cruel laughter and jeering followed. They were feeding on her pain. They couldn't bully Naruto who was Hokage sanctioned. But they certainly could bully a nobody civilian girl. Especially since they were rookie ninja sponsored by some of the more prestigious clans, so they could get away with anything.

It…it hurts…

She prepared herself for another bash, when something from the corner of her eye flitted into view.

Naruto's fist.

The boy that held her arms collapsed into unconsciousness as he was propelled backwards. If Naruto's voice had not been damaged, there would have no doubt been a roar that the whole of Konoha could hear.

Instead, it was maroon eyes and a clenched jaw that conveyed his anger, as well as his pronounced whiskers. On his face was the look of a boy who had just discovered the ability to kill.

Everything else happened in a blur. She had seen Naruto pick up one of the boys and slam him against the concrete floor despite being half his size. A lashed out fist pushed all the air out of the final boy. He could not communicate what he was feeling through his voice. So he did it with his fists.

It had been the ANBU that had stopped him. He had been close, very close to killing one of them. If the ribcage of one of the boys had been broken further, it would have pierced the lungs. The irony was that the ANBU was meant to protect Naruto from attackers, not stop him from attacking.

Frankly, the look on Naruto's face had been frightening. It was face of feral anger, augmented by the faint taint of youki. He was so angry; the ANBU literally had to drag him away from the boys.

_I'll Kill Them, _his eyes said. _I will fucking kill them kill them_

Sarutobi did not expect to be informed that his surrogate grandson was involved in the near murder of three boys and one girl.

…

Ayame was waiting for the boy to come back. The boy's eyes had been so sad and they had been friends for so long that Ayame knew all his hand signs. Teuchi had even made a blueprint of a special bowl of ramen to celebrate Ayame's full recovery and Naruto's bravery. However, it had been a month, and it had been midnight, but Naruto had never came.

"He…He's not coming is he?" Ayame had said with down-cast eyes.

She had been waiting for so long…

"Ayame…"

Teuchi bent down and hugged her. Ayame pressed her trembling face against her father.

"I've always been so useless…even when mother died…"

"Ayame, it's not your fault," Teuchi said softly.

"I know that…"

She squeezed her eyes shut.

_I won't cry…I won't cry…_

"But…but…"

Tears flowed out her eyes.

"I really liked his smile…"

A hooded customer entered the store at that time. Teuchi went and greeted him.

"Welcome to Ichiraku…Sandaime Hokage."

"Please, call me Sarutobi. I understand you have had a bit of trouble with my grandson Naruto, yes?"

"You must forgive him. You see, he's always been a lonely boy."

"Yes."

"So Naruto, come out."

A trembling Naruto came out from behind his grandfather's back. Wordlessly, he sat on the counter next to his Jiji.

"I would like the best ramen you could ever make for my grandson," Sarutobi said solemnly.

A gigantic grin materialized on Teuchi's face because he understood.

"Coming up!"

He rushed into the back, earning a glance from his young daughter.

"He-he's here?" Ayame whispered.

"Yes."

Frantically she wiped away her tears and joined in the work to make the biggest and greatest ramen bowl they ever made. They put chicken in it, they placed beef, they placed lots of hot steamy soup and egg tinted noodles. He had never seen the girl this motivated.

His brave little girl; he watched as pride as he held the giant bowl and placed on the counter. She was reticent, but she still greeted him.

"Hello Naruto."

Naruto stared up at her, blue eyes shining with light.

_Is it too late? _He signed.

"No. Does it taste good?"

Naruto looked at the ramen bowl as if he couldn't believe it. Then he sampled it and took a long giant bite. His shoulders began to tremble, but he looked at her and gave the sunniest smile she had ever seen. His blue eyes shone with glistening light and unshed water.

_Yes, _he signed.

And then Ayame's eyesight blurred up so badly she couldn't even see straight.

…..

Jaraiya stared at the picture of a family below him. Two young boys, a girl, a ramen chef and an old man; it was a ridiculous picture. After his meeting with the Sandaime Hokage, he had been surprised to note how his sensei spent most of his lunches in a run-down stand.

_We can't dwell on the past…_

He watched as the man attended to broiling broth with powerful precision and heard the playful arguments that permeated the stand. He heard the occasional snort of laughter and an expression of amusement from the Hokage. He listened to the spontaneous shouts of outrage that seemed to come up every five minutes. Most of all, he watched the blonde boy making ramen.

_I wonder what Minato would say if he saw his son now…_

He tilted his eyes up into the sky and listened to the tilt of birds.

He smirked. Naruto sure looked happy didn't he?

He laughed.


	5. Cake

"_If intelligent, well-adjusted, successful university students can turn aggressive in response to a small laboratory experience of social exclusion," noted the research team, "it is disturbing to imagine the aggressive tendencies that might arise from a series of important rejections or chronic exclusion from desired groups in actual social life."-_ Jean Twenge.

"…_human beings are fundamentally and pervasively motivated by a need to belong."-_ Baumeister & Leary.

…..

Ramen wasn't Jaraiya's favorite food. Oh how he whined and grumbled and failed to understand how a bowl of fast food would be so essential to the relationships surrounding the Blonde. But if he wanted to actually meet with the brat, he was going to have to eat ramen, like it or not, especially since now was the best opportunity for weeks to get at the brat.

"Anyone here," cried Jaraiya, knocking the metal dispenser that shut the stall out.

A small gap opened and a slip of paper was pushed out onto the counter. _Write what you want and slip me back inside, _said the note, with cute pictures of ramen adorning the corners. Jaraiya grumbled, wrote down miso ramen and slipped some ryo notes inside. Then the metal dispenser opened up and there was the Naruto brat Jaraiya had wanted to meet for weeks.

"If the entire purpose of the metal dispenser was to hide yourself, why did you open it and let me see you?" Jaraiya asked.

The masked boy pointed at the sign that said, _No Refunds._ And then he shoved a bowl of ramen towards the white-haired man. Jaraiya stared at the bowl, and finally reluctantly sampled a taste. This was when Jaraiya's eyes widened and another mouthful of noodles was shoved into his mouth. This was actually really good.

"How did you guys make this?" he asked the brat.

Naruto pointed at the _I can't talk _sign. Jaraiya rolled his eyes.

"I'm a ninja. I can read tongue and lips and sign language. Also, there's no need to hide your face in front of me. I know who you are."

How the brat managed such a dubious looking face with his mask still on was beyond him. But the brat did take off his mask, albeit with a reticent nature. The mask was pulled back to reveal a young boy with whiskers on his cheeks, stringy blond hair and blue eyes. Jaraiya hardly gave him a second glance, which seemed to release the tension greatly.

_You look familiar, _he mouthed. _I've seen you in a book before._

Jaraiya nonchalantly shoved another mouthful of noodles into his oral cavity.

"Of course, I'm known as the super pervert."

_Jaraiya, the seal master?_

"That's me."

_What do you want with me?_

"The world doesn't just revolve around you kid."

_This kid over here has no idea what the toad sage wants to do with a ramen stand._

Jaraiya chucked and pigged down the rest of the ramen bowl, soup and all. The kid was a bit too suspicious, but Jaraiya had dealt with worse.

"Well, let's say I want to access the potential of Konoha's Jinchuuriki. If you impress me enough, I might take you as an apprentice."

A face with narrowed eyes stared back at him. Funny, he sure acted a lot more enthusiastic and hyperactive around his surrogate family. Oh well, it probably came with being the Konoha Jinchuriki and being one of the major topics of politicians. Jaraiya would become someone that he could trust, he was sure. He owed that much to Minato. Now though, it was all up to making a good first impression.

He watched the gears spin in Naruto's head, attempting to process the information fed to him. Naruto closed his eyes and sighed.

_It's great that I'll be your potential apprentice, but I don't think that's the sole reason why you came here._

"What makes you think that?"

_People like you can only take apprentices when they are at least Genin. Also, I've never met you before. So, what do you want?_

Jaraiya yawned and stretched.

"Let's just say you'll find out if you follow me. Are you up for the challenge?"

Naruto hesitated, and then shrugged.

_I'll be out in a while, _he mouthed.

…

_So, going to peep on women again? _Signed Naruto.

"Nope, not today," replied Jaraiya cheerfully. "You're strangely open and knowledgeable. Not many people know me as a super pervert."

_Old man told me a lot about you. He said he was ashamed of you. _

"Huh, well tell him he's just as much of a pervert as I am. Anyway, I'll be back. Continue channeling chakra into that paper."

_Sure, _mouthed Naruto sarcastically.

If his old man was a pervert then Konohamaru was gay at four years old. He snorted a little and continued to concentrate the chakra in to the paper which incidentally was filled with seals. For a while, there was nothing but that seal of paper, the feel of chakra in his hands, and the rivers of sweat running down his face.

"I'm back," called Jaraiya. "You can stop now gaki."

Naruto gasped as he stopped the flow of chakra to his hands. His hands stung really painfully. Manipulating his chakra did that to him for some odd reason.

_What time is it?_

"Three o' clock. You've been channeling for two hours."

Naruto grimaced, carefully storing his hands. Jaraiya wasn't unobservant however.

"Let me see that," said Jaraiya, gently handling Naruto's hands. He frowned. Everything about this kid was atypical. For one thing, no one at eight should have the chakra capacity to force chakra through filter seals for two hours or get chakra burns from simple channeling.

"Uh, give the seal to me."

Gingerly, Naruto held out the paper of seals to Jaraiya, who frowned even more. He looked up.

"Well, I got some ice-cream. Let's take a rest for a while."

A poof of smoke and a storage scroll later, both of the males had an ice-cream cone in each hand. They sat down on the grass while Jaraiya summoned a scroll of healing into his hand.

"Hold out your hand."

Jaraiya channeled some chakra through the seal, green light coming from the other end. Soon, Naruto's hands were no longer inflamed, although a little red. Naruto examined his hands in wonder and then eyed the piece of paper in Jaraiya's hand, who chuckled.

"Don't look so eagerly at it brat. I had the help of the best medic-nin in the world to make it. It's not something a brat like you can replicate."

Naruto snorted but smiled nonetheless, licking at the ice-cream cone. Jaraiya licked absent mindedly at his ice-cream cone as well, eyeing the results from the seal. What the? He eyed the seal a second time, almost astounded by the diagnosis. Swiftly, he packed away the seal and finished his ice cream.

_What was the seal for? _signed Naruto.

"It was to access your ninjutsu and chakra control."

_You can get that much from a piece of paper?"_

"Kid, seals can do anything with the right preparation."

Naruto just ate the rest of the ice-cream, sending curious glances towards the white-haired man.

_You haven't answered my question. What do you want with me?_

"I told you; I'm bored and I'm looking for an apprentice."

_I still don't see why you're accessing me._

Jaraiya rolled his eyes.

"Taijutsu," said Jaraiya, standing up and waffling the question. "You seem adequate in ninjutsu, so let's see how you'll do in taijutsu."

This earned another disbelieving glance, but Naruto stood up.

_I'll begin then._

Naruto, despite having channeled chakra for two hours, retained a certain sort of enthusiasm and rigor. He assaulted swiftly via unconventional tactics, even having tried to propel sand into Jaraiya's eyes. Jaraiya, despite being a seasoned ninja, found it a little difficult to predict what the blonde enigma was going to do. However, because he was a seasoned ninja, it didn't matter anyway.

Jaraiya effortlessly dodged all of the boy's attacks. Not only that, but he fluently parried Naruto's offense without even throwing a single blow. Naruto tripped over his own feet, over-extended himself, got himself into uncomfortable positions and was even tricked in to slamming his own head into a training post.

"Enough," he finally commanded.

The blonde halted with disappointment on his face. The blonde could easily have sparred for an entire day and not even tire out, which was time Jaraiya didn't have. Not to mention, the boy seemed terribly unhappy with himself for failing to land even a single blow. Jaraiya didn't seem to be too concerned about that however.

"Kid," he began, drawing his attention. "I'm going to be honest with you. I expected more from a boy trained by sensei's monkey summons."

_Another assessment? _He mouthed, head cocked to the side. Jaraiya continued his speech unhindered.

"First of all, your taijutsu is unrefined, you fight like a ruffian and you lack skill. Your accuracy needs some work and you have horrible footwork. Also, I've seen how inefficiently you used your katas. I'm going to be frank: you'd be better off as you are now not even using the katas. You don't have an instinctual grasp for them, and it's only hindering your ability to fight."

_Tell me what I don't already know, _mouthed Naruto, a sour look on his face. _Geez, you made me spar for this?_

"Brat," said Jaraiya, flicking his fore-head. "I'm not done yet."

Naruto flinched and stayed silent, though his eyes still burned with curiosity.

"Let's see, horrible foot-work, no talent, little instinctual grasp…" he continued, causing Naruto face to get even more indignant. "_But_, you have good instinct. You naturally seek out the weak and blind spots of people and attack in completely unpredictable ways while having really good stamina. You don't have much power in your strikes, but you're fast and agile."

_Hang on, did you just praise me?_

"I'm not like old man. I believe in focusing on the strengths than on the weaknesses."

_Wow, it's like you've already chosen me to be your apprentice._

"Hah! Far from it," lied Jaraiya, although he had already accepted Naruto as his apprentice. "You don't even have the skills. But you do have potential, so you'll be a good ninja. I'll even write a recommendation for you, so that your entire effort with me isn't wasted."

Naruto looked at him skeptically, but hell, he was bored anyway. Ayame and Teuchi had been gone for who knows how long, and it wasn't as if he knew how to train himself. The chakra paper thing was weird, but it allowed him to practice channeling chakra without blowing anything up.

_Well, thanks for wasting my time._

"Cheeky brat," grumbled Jaraiya.

The brat was still reserved around him, but on second thought, he really didn't do much besides a little sparring and chakra exercise.

"Wait brat."

Naruto turned towards him.

"You like seals, right? How about an explosive tag?"

Yet another quizzical glance was shot, but the boy also had a smile on his face.

_Well, I guess this is one more step to increasing my awesomeness. _

…..

It was evening. There was an orange hue in the horizon that filled the office with coral light. Just as the sun was setting, so was Jaraiya's energy. The kid was way too enthusiastic with the seal-making.

"So how was it?" Sarutobi queried, having just woken up as Jaraiya entered the office. Among the interior were a dozen sage-chakra infused kage bunshins which attended to the paper work, a gift that Jaraiya was all too happy to give to his over-worked sensei.

"It went well. Actually, you might want to take a look at this paper."The chakra filters are almost completely worn out."

"I'm not surprised. Naruto made a tree explode when he channeled chakra through it."

"When did this happen?"

"About two or three months ago, and it gave me another reason for Naruto to avoid channeling chakra into anything other than seals."

"Hm. Well, Naruto is producing his own youki."

Sarutobi blinked. "I see," he said.

"You don't look surprised at all."

"I've suspected for a while. I've always wondered how he's unable to use the simplest jutsu but have the ability to make a B-rank seal."

"B-ranked seal?"

"This," said Sarutobi, handing out a seal. "It's his first project."

Jaraiya inspected the piece of paper. It held a unique style of spirals and arrays, completely different from Jaraiya's style that focused around individual characters. Powerful fuuinjutsu users often developed their own unique art, but this was ridiculous.

"This style…"

"Naruto has a gift for it I guess," commented Sarutobi with a smile. "I guess he might even revive the Uzumaki's gift of sealing."

"What does it do? Does it work?"

"Try it out," said Sarutobi, pointing to the beaker of water.

Jaraiya obeyed, and watched as bubbles immediately floated to the surface. Then more bubbles popped until Jaraiya realized that the water was boiling. Then that meant…

"It's a vacuum," breathed Jaraiya. "He's created a seal that can impose a complete lack of pressure on a designated space."

"Yes," agreed Sarutobi. "It took me years to figure out what it did. At first I thought it exerted a small pull of kinetic force on objects it was utilized on."

"And you found differently when you used it on water."

"Yes, I thought that such a complex seal would have more of an effect than just moving small objects a little bit. It turns out; the objects that he uses it on are still affected by gravity. So in a vacuum; all objects drop the same rate regardless of density…"

"Thus you thought that the seal only made leaves fall faster," said Jaraiya. "But in reality, the seal can basically create a bubble of vacuum."

"Yes. Full of mysteries, isn't he?"

"Difficult," murmured Jaraiya. "This is ridiculous. He's not going to be a conventional ninja in the least. He won't be able to do ninjutsu except through seal use. His youki will screw up his summoning and sage chakra, it's in 15% of his chakra. And he's producing his own without the fox's manipulation. I don't get how the youki isn't manifesting itself in less than an animalistic nature or physiological discrepancies. But most of all, his seal use is just insane."

"Humph, Minato would have been proud."

"Still not as good in taijutsu as Minato would have been," huffed the indignant seal master. "I trained the best."

"And we're going to have to train another best," said Sarutobi, suddenly grim. "The youki will only get more apparent over time, and you know the enemies he has."

Jaraiya thought a bit, and sighed.

"I'm not ready to face Minato's son as more than a stranger."

"You're skiving away from your duty."

"Give me some time, okay? I'll work out something."

Sarutobi just pinched his nose and exhaled. He had been heavily anticipating Jaraiya's bond with Naruto, but he supposed it was too soon. Also, there was the troubling prospect of Naruto's education. How did one train a ninja that was supposedly part-demon?

"Thank you Jaraiya," he said anyway. "I know it's hard for you."

Jaraiya opened his mouth, but shut it quickly. The desire for a different topic was palatable. He settled it with a shrug.

"The world can't revolve around Naruto."

…

It was night-time, and Naruto was busy spying on his surrogate family who had shoved him out of the kitchen yet again. He sighed as he listened to them whisper and murmur over something. He hated being left out.

Oh well, it was a good time for a prank anyway. Grinning, he went hard at work on a seal that was both humiliating and good-natured…how about a storage tag with a bit of explosion to it, hm? After thirty minutes and a pound of flour, he slid the tag under the door and blew it towards the trio.

A catastrophic explosion of white powder and three hoarse screams later, Naruto ran for it.

"NARUTO!" yelled Ayame. "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

Yelling profanities, she stomped outside, and returned 15 minutes later with a completely white face. Ayame then pointed at herself.

"Look at what that ^&%^ did to me!"

"Look on the bright side, he didn't get any of the stuff wet," Konohamaru said, wiping the flour from his eyes. "I'm going to shove a kunai up onii-chan's ass when I get home."

Teuchi didn't comment because he was too busy laughing.

"That was a good one," choked out Teuchi as he wiped the tears out of his eyes.

Ayame huffed and sat down, swiping the flour off the cook books. Her mood got even worse when her eyes fell on the cake.

"Damn it, he screwed up the cake," growled Konohmaru.

Teuchi immediately stopped laughing. And then he scowled with the rest of his collaborators.

"That little… I'm going to beat the little shi- I mean I'm going to have a _very good talk with him," _said Teuchi.

"The cake is a lie," moaned Ayame.

…

A/N: Thanks for everyone who reviewed thus far. Although the story is rather slow-paced at this point, things are probably going to get a lot faster from the next chapter onwards. Hopefully. And my chapters are longer so that's a start.


	6. Preparation

In Konoha, kintetsu-genin, or more specifically, pseudo-ninjas, formed the back-bone of most of the grunt work. The Kintetsu-genin was a breed of people with chakra coils not developed enough to be fully ninja, yet essential to the man-power of Konoha. Basically, they were genin that could never be skilled enough to be chuunin, but were allowed to take C-rank missions with groups.

The three guards in charge of protecting the path to the gate were part of such a kintetsu-genin group, and one of the many others that performed guard duty. They were content with their jobs as well; they were paid decently, led stable lives, and were on a socio-economic class above normal civilians. After all, chakra-users were rare in the shinobi world, even in Konoha where only 1% of the populace had the potential to be pseudo-ninjas let alone chakra-users.

This was one of the reasons why the guards of Konoha were boisterous and cheerful, but often scornful of their civilian-counter parts. And often, the respect that they gave to ninja was a sharp contrast from the behavior that they exhibited towards normal people.

A pale-skinned woman that had walked up to the gates was unwittingly an example of this behavior. As an ordinary outcast looking for protection, her chances of getting inside without harassment were slim, and her agitation was widely ignored. One of the guards had a smile that was slightly upturned as though he was enjoying this, while the other two engaged in behavior that could at best be described as unprofessional.

Nevertheless, it just so happened that these particular guards were simply too retarded to live; every frantic person had a reason behind their agitation, and thus a call for someone of chuunin rank on higher should have been made. However, the figure observing them was not complaining; it simply made his life easier.

He circled around the raucous guards and the woman that must not be allowed to live, not with what she had seen. She was intelligent; instead of blurting out knowledge to guards who may disbelieve her, she called for protection instead. Too bad the guards displayed little to no alarm, if not the figure would have had to at least deal with a chuunin or higher.

The figure had always had a sick sort of humor; being in ANBU for several years would induce this. He waited until the guard stupidly forced himself on the woman before he flitted forward and dismembered the woman's head.

For a few heartbeats did the man lack comprehension that he was holding a headless body. He let out one scream of shock before he himself was eviscerated. A moment later, and a well placed kunai, one of the other guards died gurgling blood. The final one ran.

The final one ran through the forest, screaming in terror. If he had followed proper procedure, he would have been able to call for help. However, his carelessness prevented him from being prepared when it would have saved his life. It was because of his carelessness that his life would be forfeit.

"No!" he screamed and the rustling got louder. "No!"

Every few seconds he would glance backwards and notice a shadow. A kunai nicked his neck. Another nicked his face. And when the figure got bored playing, the final kunai pierced his kneecap. He screamed and fell into the shadows of the forest, where his body would only be found months later.

"Got you," the figure said.

And the last thing the guard saw were blood-red pinwheel eyes and a flash of steel.

…

She had wanted to make it the best birthday party ever. It was something that Konohamaru and Ayame had been working towards for a long time. Even so, it was important to get permission from the hokage, so Ayame hoped that the hokage wasn't in a meeting currently. It was always intimidating talking to the Hokage, but the presence of her father next to her calmed her.

The hokage tower was a symbol of power, but was also under great scrutiny. Usually, the chuunin guards there would never have allowed civilians near the place, but they all learned the hard way that these particular two civilians were to be treated with respect. Some of them grumbled again, but shifted aside as the two civilians walked past them with indifference.

Finally, they got to one of the most closely guarded areas. Near the door were two ANBU standing side-by-side, silent yet subtly threatening.

"Is the Hokage busy currently?" Teuchi asked.

In response, the ANBU parted, allowing a clear pathway into the corridor infested with security seals. Each seal was particularly tailored to allow only those of no malice to enter, although people close to the Sandaime were allowed regardless. Teuchi and Ayame never asked if they were one of them, although they had come here several times. To be that close to the hokage was an honor that few people could ever brag about, especially for civilians.

"Come in," rasped a voice.

They obeyed, moving from the intimidating hallway into a room bathed in sunlight and objects of homeliness. It was a very big room with half of one side being barren of furniture, with the other half being crammed with trinkets and apparels, almost to make up for the empty half. And in the middle of the mess of furniture, pictures and paperwork was the hokage who was diligently tackling his latest stack of paperwork.

"We want to celebrate Naruto's birthday," Teuchi stated.

The Hokage continued his work, lacking the inclination to even look up.

"You do know that he has never celebrated his birthday overtly before, right?" Sarutobi asked the air.

It wasn't as if Sarutobi was negligent of Naruto's birthday, but it was a topic that drew ire and involved information that no one besides the Hokage and Naruto himself knew. It was something that was killing Ayame for a while, the guilt of having never given her best friend a decent birthday party. Emotionally-charged words sprang up into her throat, but she forced them down.

"Why?" Ayame whispered. She whispered because she just might scream.

Again there was the seemingly indifferent motion of pen on paper, but the hand movements stopped and the Hokage leaned backwards into his chair, sighing.

"Naruto still blames himself for the events regarding your transfer from school."

Ayame, and even Teuchi flinched. That had been a harsh blow, but even Teuchi saw that it was necessary. Neither Ayame nor Konohamaru knew that Naruto held the demon fox. Eventually they would know, but they would have to understand why the Jinchuuriki was always under such tight security.

"It wasn't his fault," Ayame forced out. "It's just that all the stupid civilian members hate him and bully anyone who is friends with him."

"Yes, even a young girl like you would have noticed that almost everyone hates Naruto. But why do you think they hate him so?"

It was a question that often stumped Ayame and Konohamaru. How could anyone ever hate the bright, cute-looking sunny blonde? As his companions for over a year, they had yet to find any overtly apprehensive traits that would gear everyone to hate him, and often they would joke that he had an aura which compelled people to despise him. Even so, they were fiercely protective of Naruto which earned them sanctuary under the Sandaime, isolating them yet forging a family of stone…

"I don't know," admitted Ayame, her emotions deflating.

Sarutobi sighed further at the response because it was strangely mature at her age, mostly because Naruto had been forcing his companions to grow up faster than Sarutobi would have liked. Even Konohamaru, who was once severely demanding as a toddler focused glares on anyone who looked at Naruto wrong. Although his inherent loudness never dissipated, the "want-now" syndrome of most toddlers his age had all but disappeared.

And Ayame herself could only be described as a mother, and perhaps more mature than most civilian women twice her age. Perhaps…perhaps even she would have the right to know, but not yet. Sarutobi mulled over the words he should say, carefully evaluating a decent response…

"Ayame, Naruto blames himself a lot for the events that happen to the people he really cares about."

Ayame stayed silent with eyes pleading for an explanation.

"Regarding the events that happened to you, he does not want the same events affecting Konohamaru. And he is right to think that way, because Konohamaru being both my grandson and Naruto's friend makes him a viable target for assassination."

Sarutobi leaned forward and exhaled a puff of smoke.

"I can't reveal to you why everyone hates him yet, but you have to know that Naruto is especially vulnerable on his birthday. That's why whatever plan involves going outside must not be allowed."

"We were planning to take him to the ramen fair," whispered Ayame.

"Why do you think he likes ramen so much?"

"Because it's his favorite food?"

"No. He likes it because you make it," he said, making Ayame blush. "He likes because you two are his only friends and because you make it. He doesn't care what you give him, as long as you don't push him away. Did I tell you? Naruto is frighteningly insecure regarding his relationships. He will prefer that nothing will ever happen to anyone around him. Because you continued being his friend despite contrary incentives, Naruto will forever love you. God knows, he was more than ready to cut all ties with you because of what happened to you, even though you were his only friend. And that's why just like Naruto, I cannot in good conscience allow you to be in any situation where your safety can be compromised."

"I would say that Naruto's darkest fear is dying alone, but you help mend that hole. You and Konohamaru fill up that void that I don't have the capacity to fill. Therefore, he will never let his own self-centeredness endanger you three. Do you understand, Ayame?" Sarutobi concluded gently.

"Yes," Ayame whispered, her eyes hidden from view.

_As long as you don't push him away, he will forever love you._

He hands clenched into fists as she gritted her teeth together. She would never, ever push Naruto away from her. Because Naruto was her friend too. Because Naruto was Naruto, and fuck everyone else who hated him.

Standing next to her daughter, Teuchi could only say nothing as he had already predicted the response. Yet, there was a silver lining to every cloud.

"What about a birthday party in the Hiruzen household?"

Sarutobi paused, and exhaled another breath of smoke. He hmm'd for a while.

"Will Konohamaru be in the birthday party?"

"Yes."

"Surprising. It seems that he too notices the subject of Naruto's birthday."

Ayame bit her lip.

"He played a big part in the inception of it yes," Teuchi replied.

In fact, until a significant amount of time ago, Konohamaru was too young to instigate a birthday party for his brother. Sarutobi himself was far too busy to organize a birthday party in the Hiruzen household, and until now, Ayame and Teuchi had never thought of following Naruto back home. It was only until Konohamaru's suggestion that they would celebrate in the Hiruzen household that they took the possibility seriously, yet being in the hokage's estate was likely to earn them the attention of unsavory parties. Konohamaru had mentioned Uncle Asuma bringing him out for celebrations on his birthdays, but never bringing Naruto along…

Hope surged into Ayame's breast, roaring into a fiery drive.

"Please?" she begged, doing her best puppy eye face.

Sarutobi took one look at her face and saw the unbridled hope. It truly was heart-warming; the lengths Naruto's friends would go. Such loyalty had to be rewarded, and god knows Naruto deserved better. Jinchuriki did not lead happy lives, and the childhood Naruto had was something to be salvaged. He fake-sighed.

"With my grandson, the best ramen chef in Kanoha and Naruto's best friend supporting this, how can I refuse?" Sarutobi replied.

Teuchi had to suppress a grin.

"Go on and organize your little birthday party. From now on you have free access to the Hiruzen estate."

_Free Access!_

Even Ayame understood the implications of that, but her mind was too focused on Naruto's birthday party.

"Otou-san! Let's make a birthday cake!"

…..

Two months had passed since then. While Naruto had been out training, they spent a fair amount of time talking about it. Tomorrow was Naruto's birthday, and they were going make it good. It was a comforting and exciting thought, but most of all was the desire to show him that they cared.

Outside however, the Uchicha prepared for war. Desire for blood and a hunger for power drove them, clanging their weapons and sharpening their tools.

Tomorrow night. They would attack tomorrow night.

…..

A/N: Sorry I took so long for this chapter. The last two weeks were super stressful and I found little to no time to write anything. I'm considering re-writing the first chapter since it seems pretty disjoint from the rest of the chapters, but no biggie.

Thanks to RamenKnight and Exploding Kunai for reviewing. Really, reviews are highly appreciated although I'm just as welcome towards favorites and alerts.


	7. Resolution

Ayame was motherfucking mad. If she was a magician, she would have stabbed out Naruto's eyes with magic missiles every time he did some retarded prank. Of course, she would heal his eyes later.

But the cake. The goddamn cake.

A personal offense to seals was her conclusion. Pranksters were annoying, but a prankster that could make things blow up and store "materials" in a piece of paper was just asking to be punched in the face. Indeed, after the party, she would in Konohamaru's words "shove a kunai up onii-chan's ass". She would also, if possible, tear off his dick and make his piss sideways for the rest of his life.

The birthday party was first priority though. With all her heart, she _had_ wanted to give Naruto the best party she could ever muster. Even if Naruto could be seriously annoying, Naruto was still her best friend. She had yet to repay him for all the birthdays he had celebrated with her.

"_Ayame! Happy Birthday!" he had yelled to a brown-haired girl seated alone at a table decorated with sheets. Even though the girl was disappointed that no one had showed up, she was happy that Naruto was there. _

Without realizing it, she was smiling with a wistful look in her eyes. Her softened expression turned into a scowl however, when she realized that she still had to re-make the cake.

…

On the fox's celebration day, Naruto hid in the Hiruzen household. Normally, Naruto slept in the hokage's tower or in many of the ANBU bases. But the Hiruzen household was the least suspected place where Naruto would hide in. That was the theory anyway.

Sneaking into the place was, even with Konohamaru's help, a real pain. It was absolutely laden with seals, traps, and weird substances. They had to grope through the dark tunnel that led underground up to the Hiruzen floor. One could never be too paranoid in a ninja village, though the inconvenience was tremendous.

"Urgh," Konohamaru groaned, searching for a hidden button. "Gotta be here, gotta be here…There!"

The dark basement was suddenly flooded with artificial light as a door swung open to reveal the interior of the household. There was a big oak table next to the kitchen centerpiece; it was a comfy place with a carpet floor, but somewhat barren. They entered it and turned to face a Blonde boy wiping sleep off his eyes.

_Huh? _He mouthed. _What are you guys doing here?_

Ayame and Konohamaru exchanged grins and released the storage seal. There was a cake, thirty bowls of ramen and a giant banner. Confetti exploded within the room, and Teuchi blew those silly whistles that people seemed to blow on birthdays. Naruto was suddenly blasted with a splat of noodles.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

Naruto stiffened, and a look of incomprehension crossed his face. He stared with big eyes, seemingly ignoring everything, even the ramen across his face.

"Um, Naruto, it's your birthday?" said Konohamaru, worried that they had somehow dealt a permanent blow to Naruto's mental capabilities.

Even though Naruto still looked like he was in a daze, he snapped into life sluggishly.

_You guys did this for me? _He signed.

"Took a while to plan," smiled Ayame.

"I made the cake!" Konohamaru lied.

Ayame scowled.

"No you didn't. You liar-"

"Well I think you're just a fat bitch!"

Teuchi rolled his eyes at background commotion and took a few strides forward to ruffle Naruto's hair. Even if he was worried about being associated with ninjas, he had always thought of Naruto as a son.

"Surprise Happy Birthday Son."

For a few moments, Naruto was still speechless. And then he smiled.

_Is this what having a family is like? I wonder if this is what having a dad, a sister, and a brother feels like._

The warm feeling in Naruto's chest flowed up to burn his throat, threatening to burn his eyes. He reached forward and hugged his father.

"There there," laughed Teuchi as he patted Naruto's back.

Naruto broke apart from his "father" and hugged his little brother. His intent was clear.

_Thanks otouto._

"It's fine, onii-chan," his little brother whispered.

He broke away from his little brother's embrace and turned to his best friend. Ayame reached forward and wiped the unshed tears away from his eyes.

"Crybaby," she teased gently.

He rushed forward and hugged her too.

"Happy Birthday otouto," she whispered.

For a moment, everyone was content.

And that night, Naruto would lose everything.

…

Hindsight was 20/20, something Itachi knew too well. Even as he dispatched the remaining Uchicha that were not killed by Madara Uchicha, he knew that it was too late. It was likely that despite the Uchicha clan's extermination, Konoha would be dealt a fatal blow.

He gritted his teeth; the agreement was that Madara would spare Konoha. But Madara did not agree to save Konoha, and thus Itachi left with a racing mind and a heart of fear. Itachi had known of a plot that his clan was implementing, but the fact that he had been left out of it was no coincidence. His clan may not have expected Uchicha Madara to aid Itachi in terminating the clan, but that had not prevented the plan, whatever it was, from being carried out. He should have taken action sooner. But the sudden progression of the invasion had caught Itachi by surprise.

Now, he was racing against time. He did not have any idea what the Uchicha had been planning. There was no overt organization of force. Few things pointed towards an outright attack on the Hokage. Yet, some plot was being implemented this very minute. Something was happening.

But Itachi did not know. Not even until he smashed the door of his father's office.

"Itachi," said a voice of cold calm. "I've been expecting you."

"Father," Itachi replied with an icy voice.

In an instant, Itachi trapped his father in the forbidden art of the Mangyeko Sharingan. The black and white myriad of colors replaced the sight of bloodshed. Chains wrapped around his father, binding him to the pole. Arms and legs shackled, his father was helpless. Yet, his father's Sharingan eyes did not waver, not even with Itachi's sword pressed against his abdomen.

"What are you waiting for?" Fugaku asked.

In response, Itachi stabbed the sword into him, eliciting a harsh cry of pain.

"Where is the invasion? What are you planning?" Itachi hissed.

His father smiled even as a thin trickle of blood flowed down his jaw and his throat.

" Too late. The plan is already implemented. Konoha will die tonight."

Itachi stabbed his sword into him again. His father's cry was louder this time, more grating. Itachi was willing to do even worse acts for the information he desperately needed.

"If you do not tell me, I will do worse."

At this, Fugaku smiled. He gasped despite the pain.

"Son, it is too late. Konoha is _dead_."

"It is too late for anyone to say that, father."

"You do not know," Fugaku mocked. "After all, you are still too young to properly harness that power that you have."

"That power will save Konoha."

Yet, Itachi did not convince himself. Despite the death of almost all of his subordinates, his father was still unnervingly confident in the plan. This meant something very worrying. What? What plan could induce such confidence?

_Konoha is dead._

He was missing something important. What event could bring about the death of Konoha that his father could speak of so confidently? A ninja? A demon?

And suddenly his mind whirled around to a conclusion. The date; October 10th. He snarled, Sharingan blazing as he met the gaze of his father. But his father simply laughed.

"So you realize. But it is too late, my dear son."

Even as he incapacitated his father and killed him, Itachi knew that it was too late. Of course, the last three years was waiting for this moment. If only he had puzzled this out sooner. But hindsight was 20/20, and two chess pieces would be taken from the board: the hokage's authority, and the Jinchuriki of Konoha.

From afar, the strangled cry of the blonde Jinchuriki sent the birds bursting into motion.

…

They had come from the ceiling. None of them had expected it. At one moment they had been eating, there had been laughter and shouts of outrage. There were food fights, and Naruto was content.

_No. Nononono._

Naruto stared at the three most important people in his life, restrained by the Uchicha ANBU squad. Teuchi's hands were impaled against the wall, with him groaning in pain. Ayame and Teuchi were restrained, arms held behind their backs.

"Naruto Uzumaki. We have an interest in you," said one of the men behind the masks.

_Let them go, _he gesticulated in standard ANBU sign language. _Please, _he begged.

He could almost hear a sneer.

"So the demon has loved ones as well, hm?"

"Naruto!" gasped Teuchi, who was immediately slammed across the face.

His body was sent to the side, flesh torn out from his hands by the kunai that impaled him. A ripping sound was heard as blood splattered across Ayame's face.

"Otou-san!" Ayame screamed, struggling to get out of her assailant's grasp.

Konohamaru was equally horrified, and scared. Tears ran down his face freely.

"O-onii-chan…I love you… Run Onii-chan.." Konohamaru sobbed.

"Shut up," said one of the assailants and Konohamaru suddenly made a high-pitched screech of pain from being stabbed.

_Let them go please, _signed Naruto, his face twisted in desperation.

Where was the hokage? Where was the ANBU? No…they had to be coming right? But no one was here yet. No one was…

"Naruto, if you let go of those explosive seals, we will let you friends go."

"Naruto don't do it-"

Ayame screamed in pain. Naruto could not hide how his body trembled. His mouth had lost all moisture and his eyes were wide with fright.

_How would I know you won't just kill them if I let go of this? _He signed.

Behind the mask, one of the Uchicha grinned. He'd always had a sick sense of humor.

"Would you like to find out?"

Ayame continued screaming in pain.

_Stop! I'll do it!_

They stopped. Blood dripped onto the floor, as Naruto gripped the explosive seals. For a tense moment, Naruto stayed still. Then he let go and moved to the far end of the corner. Already, he was facing death and accepting it. If he could save his friends, that would have been fine.

But laughter greeted him instead, chilling the blood in his body.

"Just kidding," one of them sang.

In synchronized motion, the life of both Ayame and Konohamaru was extinguished. Naruto watched in slow-motion as Ayame's body hit the floor.

Dead. The one that had killed Ayame and Konohamaru died in an instant. He had not expected the sudden transformation from boy to demon, and had been caught completely off-guard. Cursing, the ANBU near Teuchi sent his kunai hurtling towards his neck, but died in a blur of red youki. Teuchi stared at the body of his daughter, simply unable to comprehend anything. Still alive, but barely functioning, Teuchi let out a weak "Naruto"…

The remaining two ANBU switched on their Sharingan. Whereas before they could not keep up with the demon, they could now. Naruto moved onwards to engage them, claws slashing. Their swords twisted in their grasp as chakra burns lashed across their bodies.

Nothing was going to plan. They were supposed to release the Kyuubi. They had, after all, waited until the Jinchuriki was strong enough to provide chakra for the reemergence of the Kyuubi, but not strong enough to subdue it completely. It was why they were attacking him on his eighth birthday, the best calculated age for the Kyuubi to emerge.

This assassination would simultaneously destroy Konoha and undermine the Hokage's position. The Hokage, disgraced, would be thrown out. And then the Uchicha would rule again.

But they had yet to kill the host. In their carelessness, two of the four most trusted Uchicha nin were dead. But it was still not too late. Despite being a host, Naruto was inexperienced.

And Michiru smiled at his partner. Sometimes, a sacrifice had to be made.

"What are you doing?" his partner screamed.

Michiru had already activated the seal that would turn any Uchicha into a living bomb. He stabbed his partner from behind and kicked him against the Jinchuriki, its body exploding. Michiru watched in satisfaction as the short Blonde was thrown against the wall. Already, Michiru could feel himself dying of chakra exhaustion; activating the seal array took too much chakra. But he hefted the sword of unseal and hurled it against the crippled Jinchuriki's heart.

Yet, with the last vestiges of his life, he watched in horror as the ramen man threw himself in front of the Blonde.

_No, _he mouthed, before he fell down dead.

…

Naruto Uzumaki stared in horror as Teuchi gently caressed his face, sword impaling him from the back.

_Why? _Naruto sobbed.

Teuchi struggled to smile despite the pain.

"Y-you're not the d-d-demon. Y-you're Naruto U-uzumaki…m-my s-son…" he gasped.

With that, Teuchi Ichiraku died.

From afar, the strangled cry of the blonde Jinchuriki sent the birds bursting into motion.

….

_Just as fate gives...it takes away.  
><em>


	8. Aftershocks

There was no color. A boy was lying down on the table, in the middle of the assorted metal objects of the Ichiraku's. His eyes were dead and devoid, and he stared up at the ceiling without purpose. The lack of other human beings present left only the void of eerie silence, while silhouettes and shadows formed a grotesque amalgamation of shade as if the darkness was swallowing him.

All around him did he see no color; there was black and blood-red spots occasionally bleeding into his vision. He saw certain shadows morph into monsters with red pin wheel eyes, growling and crawling towards him with mouths hungry for flesh. Some of them had six eyes. Others had three. It did not matter to him.

He blinked once, and the monsters disappeared from view. He regarded this with indifference, not even bothering to move his eyes away from the ceiling. He simply felt…nothing, like he didn't even exist. The numbness spread throughout his body, affecting his entire body.

Blood. When he shifted his vision to his hands, he saw blood-caked claws. They bled into his vision, and seemed to mock him. A burst of anger made him get up and slam his hands against the floor. He slammed them against the floor again. The blood didn't come off.

He ran to the sink, grabbing the soap and the scratchy sponge. He washed them, the smell of bleach burning his nostrils and his hands, yet he did not stop. Again and again he washed them, rubbing until his hands were raw and the liquid burned his eyes.

He sat near the toilet and threw up. Bile streamed out of his mouth. Red bled into his vision. Dirty. So dirty. He needed to wash everything over again.

Clothes on, he stepped into the bathtub, turning on the tap. Ice-cold water rushed over him, but he did not even respond with a shudder. The smell of bleach permeated the air as he continued dousing over himself. Two hours later, he walked out of the bathroom, water trailing behind him.

Ramen. He wanted to make some ramen and pretend that they were still there.

_Hello, Ayame_, he mouthed to nothing. _Hello._

He took "Ayame" by the hand and went to the kitchen.

_Hello, Konohamaru_, he mouthed to nothing, as he took his younger brother's hand.

He pretended that they existed, his hands splayed out on either side. When they were alive-_NO! _They were holding his hands right now. Like they always had. Like they've always-

_Y-you.. a-are not… the d-demon…Y-you a-are… N-Naruto U-Uzumaki…m-my…m-my-_

Self-loathing flooded him. His body flushed with heat. He would not allow that sentence to continue. He would not-

Teuchi stared at him with loving eyes, as Naruto watched him bleed to dea-

_**NO! **_he roared soundlessly. _**NONONONONONONONONO-**_

He took the flour and slammed it on the wooden cutting board. He took the butcher knife and slammed it against the board. Chips of wood and shrapnel flew everywhere as he continued to slam his knife against it. He screamed a song of ragged torment as his sanity started to break into little pieces.

There was nothing left. There was no color. Why couldn't the blood come off?

He eventually fell against the wall, exhausted. He stared at his blood-red hands, a butcher held in one hand and a nothing but air in the other. He took the butcher knife and cut a gash into his left arm, watching with fascination as more red bled into his vision. He cut again.

Nothing but numbness; he didn't even feel any pain. He watched as the blood ran down his arm and dripped on to the floor. He smiled. He liked the color red more than he liked the color black. He raised the knife up and swung it down again.

A gnarled hand caught the knife and ripped it out of hands. He was suddenly slammed against the wall. A voice snarled at him, black wisps of hair drifted into his vision. Black clothes filled his eyesight, as well as a black-colored face.

Jaraiya stared into the eyes of his future apprentice, who stared back with dead blue eyes. The once alive and sparkling pupils had diluted to a lackluster color, reflecting the mental state of their owner. His body shook with ragged gasps.

"Gaki, _what the fuck are you doing!" _his whisper screamed.

The boy didn't even look at him, and stared off into the distance. Tears ran down his cheeks. He started what Jaraiya thought was soundless sobbing, but as Jaraiya continued to inspect his face, he saw a psychotic grin plastered on his face.

_K I l l M e _

He mouthed this as he half-sobbed and half-laughed. The sobs were suddenly taken over by laughter, and soon the boy guffawed. Even as Jaraiya felt his blood being chilled to the freezing point, Naruto continued to laugh as if it was the funniest thing in the world.

Even as Naruto continued to see the image of Teuchi speaking to him, he continued to laugh.

_Y-you.. a-are not… the d-demon…Y-you a-are… N-Naruto U-Uzumaki…m-my…m-my-_

_Nonsense. _

…

…

…

_I'm a monster._

He laughed as tears ran down his cheeks.

And Jaraiya continued to stare on, frozen and completely horrified, the face of Minato breaking down forever etched into his memory.

….

"Where is Naruto?" Sarutobi rasped, his face having aged and exhausted.

Twin eyes of desperation and worry cut even more holes into Jaraiya's soul.

"He's just recuperating in the hospital right now. How did the meeting go?"

"Not very well. The daimyo is calling for Naruto's exile along with the civilian clan heads."

Jaraiya clenched his fists.

"What did they say?"

"They said that did could not afford for the Kyuubi to be released should Naruto be assassinated."

"Those fools will destroy us one day, "Jaraiya choked out.

"Those fools will hurt my grandson."

Twin eyes of worry still cut deep into him, but behind them was a hint of the former God of Shinobi. Jaraiya felt stripped of those eyes, as if he had failed someone utterly. Sarutobi spoke again.

"How is Naruto?"

Jaraiya could not bring himself to answer, nor could he look into those eyes. He did fail someone. He failed Minato, Naruto and Sarutobi.

"I'll go in your place," was the only answer he could muster.

Sarutobi nodded and walked past him. Only Jaraiya noticed the tight clenching of the jaw.

And then there were two faces he would never forget.

…..

There were the big doors that opened to the council room, where noises of out roar could be heard. And there was him. Jaraiya walked up to the meeting place where giant holdings were arranged: a grand, gargantuan arrangement of wooden tables and chairs arranged like a spiral of stairs around a single wooden table.

Face hard as stone, Jaraiya entered the council room. He watched as the arguing clans slowly turn his attention to him as he walked behind the oak tables of the Hokage.

"Where is the Hokage?" demanded one of the civilian council members.

"I will be answering questions in place of him," Jaraiya coldly answered.

"Who are you to answer for the Sandaime Hokage?" Danzo asked.

"I'm his student."

Demands were shouted out even before he could speak. Most of the civilian members called out for the death of Naruto. Others called for his exile. Most of the clan heads were absent, with the Uchicha gone, the Senju gone and the Hyuuga gone. The remaining clans-the ninja clans- voted against the civilian heads to no avail. After all, ninjas took up only 1% of the population.

And 99% were ignorant.

This was the price of revealing ninja secrets to civilians. This was what Minato's policy of allowing civilians a say in the matters of a ninja village led to. Demands for Itachi Uchichas' location were bellowed. Accusations of Naruto were thrown. The revelation of the Uchicha's plan to release the Kyuubi only garnered more hate.

"It is too dangerous to let the demon brat stay!"

"You fools!" shouted the head of the Nara clan. "You wish for us to relinquish the bearer of the Kyuubi?"

"Better for a weapon lost than a country destroyed!" screamed one of the daimyo's advisers.

With the civilian and the daimyo's advisers backing each other, it could very well result in the exile of Naruto. As he listened, anger slowly started to boil in his veins.

A weapon. That's what they viewed Naruto as. They ignored the fact that the "weapon" had once had a family, had once had friends. They ignored the fact that he was a human being, and that he had emotions like the rest of them. They isolated him, despised him, and would have had organized economic warfare against him if it hadn't been for outright threats.

Two faces popped into his mind, clear as glass. His mentor's face, desperate to see his grandson, and the broken Naruto, crying so much his body forced him to laugh. He listened as demands were thrown and clenched his fist as his anger flowed over.

"Enough," he said.

The people around him quailed away from him. Few had seen the pervert angry, but until now, no one had experienced his anger before.

"Enough," he said again.

Yet despite his commands, indignant demands were still thrown. Belligerent calls were made, invective accusations still thrown. Naruto was still used as a scapegoat, as despite the clans' efforts, the civilian members competed among each other to see who could come up with the worst punishment for the Blonde Jinchuuriki. The Sandaime's senility was commented on, and eagerly shouted for the whole room to hear.

Naruto's face flashed into his mind, the face of a laughing boy with blood dripping down his arm-

"ENOUGH!" he vociferated, slamming his fist straight through the center of the wooden table.

The gigantic crack of splinters exploded outwards, showering the room with wooden pieces. Shrapnel embedded themselves against the walls, propelled by the force of the implosion. Only the chakra-enhanced samurai prevented their daimyo from being impaled, and the people around him were nearly struck by the shattered wooden pieces.

Dead silence reigned as the majority of the people learned why S-rank ninja were considered to be god like in power. For the first time since the third shinobi war, Jaraiya exuded killing intent only people like him could. Jiraiya's next words were slow, calculated and deceptively calm, sending chills down the backs of even the ninja clan heads.

"Naruto Uzumaki will not be subjected to any punishment, nor will the events of what happened tonight be released outside of this room," Jaraiya rasped slowly and calmly. "Failure to comply will result in _death. _Forceful handling of Naruto will result in _death._ All that is revealed in this room is a SS-rank secret. Authority is granted by wartime appeal, the daimyo hold no authority. We are _done _with your demands."

"You cannot do this!" an adviser of the daimyo shouted. "This is-"

"Minato Namikaze called for the boy to be treated as a hero. Anyone who violates that proclamation has declared war on Konoha, and will be treated as enemies. Attack of a Konoha nin is treason."

"You-"he continued, but was suddenly stopped by his daimyo, who rose.

The daimyo looked Jaraiya straight in the eyes.

"Jaraiya, I have always had a liking for you. But do you truly believe that the Kyuubi will not be released in this country?" he asked.

Jaraiya stared grimly back.

"I swear it on my life," he replied without hesitation.

The daimyo nodded with satisfaction and got up to leave.

"Daimyo-sama-"

"Enough. I've changed my mind."

"But-"

"No."

Unwilling to listen to the resulting storm of noise, Jaraiya too walked out of the clearance, leaving behind the obliterated crater in the center of the room.

"Meeting adjourned."

…

Mud was everywhere. The air itself was damp and putrid, the environment around him afoul with moisture. He walked naked, ignoring the way his ankles were submerged in muddy water, instead moving the direction the water was smudging towards.

He had been here before. It made no difference to him.

A gigantic gate came into view, glowing red in its majesty. The narrow tunnel gave way to a basin that seemed bigger than a castle. Compared to the gate itself, Naruto's size was no more comparable to an ant. Two twin eyes of crimson appeared.

"_**Well well well…Look whose back?"**_

Naruto stared back with dead eyes.

….

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last time. Feedback is super appreciated; last chapter was probably the most reviews I ever got per chapter so far.

Hope my writing is getting better...and Naruto too.


	9. Beginning

"_Sensei, What would you have done if I was unable to persuade the daimyo?"_

Eyes of steel had faced him then, in Naruto's room, flaring out in barely conceived anger. The arm chair in which he grasped broke in half with the force of his sudden pressure, and killing aura sent the nearby utensils skittering.

It had taken a while for him to respond.

"_Naruto Uzumaki is one of the few family members that I have left, _"he had said finally, and then said no more.

In that moment, Jaraiya had known where Sarutobi's loyalties were. He bowed and left with a grim face, knowing the implications of that statement.

Jaraiya wasn't normally a thinking man. He just did things, went recklessly into battle and peeked on women. In several countries he was hailed as a sex god, in Konoha he was hailed as the master of all perverts. But even he knew why Sarutobi's resolve was so important.

Why was Konoha so powerful?

It wasn't because of the ninja they produced. It wasn't because of their military strength, though they had demonstrated that in the third great shinobi war. It was because of their economic power, and behind that economic power, their political system.

Jaraiya had seen how certain villages had treated their civilians, and how in certain oppressive regimes civilians were used as pawns, as simple cannon fodder. They were enslaved, forced to do the bidding of ninjas, yet still used as the backbone- the working force- of their village.

Those people had been the unlucky ones, subservient to the people in power, for power corrupts absolutely.

But in Konoha?

The Nidaime had established a policy that no nin were allowed to harm or use powers on civilians unless approved directly by the hokage. Sarutobi had taken that even further within his reign, implementing a policy of execution for any ninja who severely injured civilians without due cause. Then Minato Namikaze implemented a civilian council, adding twelve seats to Konoha instead of the initial 12 twelve clan seats.

All these policies were the first of their kind, and were the first even now. And it had driven Konoha to heights never seen before. Civilians flocked- no begged to enter Konoha, bringing thousands of new talents and professions every day. Their ability to embargo, to deny service, to export, to wage economic war, made it very difficult for villages dependent on their products to wage war against them. New nin joined the kotetsu-genin ranks of Konoha every day, because Konoha did not allow Konoha nin to kill each other, unlike certain other nations.

But most of all was the implementation of free trade, and their representative democracy. Civilians (which were also composed of clan-less nin), knowing that they had a say in ninja affairs, smiled more often, laughed more often, but most of all, retained the highest productivity rates of the entire five great nations.

All of this led to a village of gigantic population, great economic power, and a large pool of loyal ninja. Their kotetsu-genin system had added on to that, along with the only country with the ability to mass produce seals. Of all the nations, Konoha had the least missing-nin.

Yet, ninjas weren't the only ones who could abuse their power, civilians could as well. Such was human nature.

Jaraiya was normally an idealistic man, a believer in booze, women and tones of money. But the ninja world was a dangerous world, and he knew that Naruto will never be safe. Tsunade had been evidence of that, the deaths of Dan and Nawaki breaking her down so badly that the once uptight rule-following medic grew a phobia of blood and a drunken spree of gambling.

But despite Tsunade's terrifying break down, at least she had never tried to kill herself.

"_I would like to train Naruto in the seal arts," _he had said to Sarutobi.

And Sarutobi had agreed, grieving for loss innocence.

He closed his eyes and cursed under his breath. It would hurt to see the face of the pupil he had failed. But the memory of seeing that laughing horrible face and not doing anything would just tear him apart with the guilt.

_I'm sorry Minato._

…..

There were few things that brought amusement to the fox in this day and time. He had been imprisoned for more than 300 years, restrained and tortured against his will. His last host, Uzumaki Kushina had avoided torturing him when she was his host, but Kushina had showed him no compassion beyond that.

It was fitting however that he did manage to kill his first host, back when his power was the least restrained.

_If not for these trice-damned shinigami seals…_

For every generation it seemed that security would only be tighter and tighter. Now it was tighter than ever, seeing as his host was perhaps the first host in all of shinobi history to ever be capable of draining youki and implementing it directly to his core.

For a human to produce youki naturally without ill effects were until now, thought impossible. But with the death god powered seals and the supreme souls that the Uzumaki had, his young host had proved it capable.

And now, his host was the source of amusement.

Compared to his legendary size, the young boy was merely the size of an insect. But in this place, this domain was his and his alone. It merely reflected his mental state, which, the Kyuubi noted, wasn't looking very good now.

Luckily, the Kyuubi was a legendary and powerful figure, so he could still affect the mindscape around him to a certain extent despite the shinigami powered seals, barely managing to keep the weird black-red mud from entering the cage. In fact, the whole basin was black in color with occasional spots of red. The Kyuubi's floor was still squeaky, retaining the state that the boy had given him, three years ago.

"**How are you?"**

He gave a menacing grin, with rows of teeth expanding within the gate. He laughed as he noted the dead eyes of his host. Feelings of vindictive contentment and satisfaction bubbled up the surface with the sight of his deliciously broken host.

Naruto just stared up at him, with eyes of emptiness. This made him laugh even harder.

"**What are you staring for, insect? Have you finally gone retarded?"**

The sight of empty eyes just made him laugh even more. The fox found this terribly funny, hooting at the sunken form of his host. Naruto seemed to shrink inwards at the sound of his laughs, eyes hidden from view.

Finally, the fox had stopped.

"_Did you have enough?"_

It had felt weird to hear the boy's words, for the boy could speak in this domain only. This was after all, the region of lucid dreaming, where anything could be imagined to life. The fox only smiled with glee at the words, and at the reunion that he was now experiencing.

"**Did you like that present I gave you?" **he mocked. **"Pathetic way of speaking isn't it, with that sign language."**

Naruto did not respond, but the fox pushed forward.

"**Do you like the youki that graces your veins? It's why everyone hates you, you know, and why even Sarutobi and Jaraiya secretly hate you."**

Although Naruto did not react, something flashed across Naruto's eyes, and the fox pounced upon that reaction with glee.

"**What about that Konohamaru, Teuchi and Ayame hm?"**

No response, but the fox knew he got him.

"**Weren't they your beeeeeeest, frieeeeeeeends?"**

"_Shut up."_

Naruto had begun trembling, fists clenched at his sides.

"**Weren't they everything you had?"**

"_Shut up!" _Naruto burst out.

And the fox pushed forward with glee.

"**Then you killed them, didn't you? I'm so proud of you! I'm so-"**

"_NOOOOOOOOOO! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!" _Naruto was standing up now, screaming.

"**MONSTER!" Kyuubi screamed with glee. **

"_I'M NOT!" _Naruto roared back.

"**KILLER!"**

"_I'M NOOOOT!" Naruto screeched. "I'm not…"_

"**HAHAHA! YOU CAUSED SARUTOBI TO LOSE BOTH HIS SONS!"**

Naruto screeched an odd noise with fingernails writhed in the air; something vocal chords could not normally reach. A screech as grating as nails on a chalk board. But the Kyuubi did not stop. For years he had been tortured. Now it was his turn to torture.

"**EVERYONE HATES YOU!"**

"_SHUT UP!" _Naruto screamed.

"**YOU ARE ALONE!"**

"_NO! I'm…I still have jiji…"_

"**YOUR GRANDPA IS DONE WITH YOU!"**

"_No…"_

"**YOU MADE ASUMA LEAVE! AND NOW YOU MADE KONOHAMARU LEAVE TOO!"**

"_Please…please stop…" _Naruto sobbed. "_He still…he still loves me…"_

He grinned at the prone form with sadistic pleasure. He was not done yet.

"**What do you think your grandfather thinks of you now?"**

Naruto was sobbing in the fetal position, rocking back and forth, shaking his head.

"**I bet he's willing to disown you, now that Asuma left because of you and that you killed Konohamaru."**

Naruto was shuddering and writhing in pain and loathing, tearing his fingernails across his face.

"_Stop…" _he moaned.

"**He sees you for who you are…a monster."**

"_I'm not…"_

"**Yesssss. You're. A. MONSTER!"**

And Naruto snapped, screeching in rage and eyes taking on a red hue. Blood red claws replaced his hands, and Naruto slashed them across the fox.

Even in pain did the fox laugh at him, and the expressions that crossed Naruto's face.

"_I'M NOT A MONSTER! I'M NOT A MONSTER! I"M NOT!"_ he roared, punctuating each with a slash across the fox's body.

Yet the fox continued to laugh.

"_I'm not…I'm not…I'm…not…"_

"_I'm…I…loved them…I really did… Teuchi is…He's…"_ he cried.

"_He's still here…"_

And Naruto rocked himself back and forth until he faded away from the room.

….**  
><strong>It had been painful to watch the body of Naruto Uzumaki. Sarutobi hunched over the unconscious body, watching the shallow heaves of his grandson's body. For hours he had been waiting, with the purpose of helping his grandson deal with the stress.

And it had happened finally. His grandson's eyes suddenly fluttered open.

And a flurry of movement later, the Blonde was soundlessly screaming at him. Body huddled against the wall.

_WHAT DO YOU WANT? _His words were easily read from his lips.

"Naruto…" whispered a pained Sarutobi as he reached for Naruto.

Naruto batted his hand away.

_DON"T TOUCH ME! YOU HATE ME LIKE EVERYONE ELSE! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? JUST KILL ME ALREADY!_

"What do you mean? I don't hate you…"

His grandson didn't even look at him, eyes failing to meet his.

_You're lying...You do…_

Despite Naruto's lack of vocal chords, the shame and pain was tangible in his body and eyes. Tears leaked out his eyes.

_Asuma left because of me. Ayame was bullied because of me. Teuchi almost went bankrupt because of me. Konohamaru died because of me. The villagers hate you because of me._

_I don't deserve anyone. It's better if I never existed in the first place. Even Konohamaru would have wanted me to die- _

SLAP!

And Naruto was pressed against the wall.

"Don't say that," hissed Sarutobi. "Don't say that about him."

_It's true. I should never have been born-_

Naruto was banged against the wall.

"No," said Sarutobi, tears freely leaking down his face. "They were your friends; they would have stayed with you through thick and thin."

_I didn't deserve them. If I told them who I was, they would hate me-_

"What did Teuchi say to you before he died?" whispered Sarutobi.

_He- He said…_

And Naruto froze for a long moment. The words came back, as well as the vivid image of Teuchi.

_Y-you.. a-are not… the d-demon…Y-you a-are… N-Naruto U-Uzumaki…m-my…m-my- _

And Naruto saw Teuchi complete the sentence.

_My son, _smiled Teuchi, his face clear to Naruto as daylight.

And Naruto exploded out in tortured heaves and spluttered tears.

_I KILLED THEM! _Naruto burst out sobbing. _THEY LOVED ME AND I KILLED THEM!_

"Naruto," whispered Sarutobi, tears dripping off his beard. "It's not your fault."

_It is…if it wasn't for my birthday…_

"He saved your life," whispered Sarutobi. "He saved all of our lives. If not for him, the Kyuubi would have been released, and you would have lost me as well…"

Sarutobi hugged his grandson, and this time his grandson did not resist. Naruto clutched onto him like a life-saver, silently sobbing against his shoulder. Sarutobi patted his back.

"Do you want me to sing you a lullaby?"

Naruto sniffled in response, hugging tighter.

Sarutobi smiled, and sung him a lullaby.

….

"Naruto, this is Jaraiya."

Naruto stepped shyly out of Sarutobi's back. It had been a few months since his friends' death, and the first week of rehabilitation had been especially painful. The nightmares will still there, as well as the flashbacks. But it was slowly getting better.

He had spent the rest of time in the Hokage's tower, helping out his grandfather with the paperwork. He practically lived in it too, because he had no desire to spend the night alone. He might have gotten a fair bit paranoid, but transcribing seals allowed him to find inner calm sometimes.

_You're the man in the ramen store, _mouthed Naruto.

Jaraiya grinned and rubbed Naruto's head.

"Well hello gaki."

It was the start of a fine relationship.

A/N: Wow! 5 Reviews for the last chapter! I love all of you! Thanks to Ramen Knight, Aidis, Koroby, BlackSpiritFire and El Frijolero.

I should have mentioned this last chapter, but the weird visual hallucinations were in part due to the youki in Naruto's body acting out in self-hatred. Eventually, Naruto would probably be able to block this negative side-effect, but it did induce schizophrenic-like symptoms in him for a while. Most of the other effects of youki were explored in chapter 5.

The Kyuubi scene is what happens when mix two absolutely broken individuals with one angry for being imprisoned for hundreds of years. Even if Naruto did help Kyuubi out when he was five, Kyuubi probably thought (and rightfully so) that Naruto would be conditioned to enslave Kyuubi during the three years he was gone. So the evil guy did what any truly evil guy would do. Mindrape.

Hope my writing is getting better.

Double A/N: I wonder if my efforts to portray Kurama in a sympathetic light is working. After all, he has been isolated for hundreds of years. Anyone would turn evil and bitter after that. I might make an omake exploring the effect of being isolated thoroughly someday.


	10. Academy

Everywhere Naruto went, he saw the faces of his friends everywhere. He saw Ayame cooking, Konohamaru playing, and Teuchi laughing at the pranks he did while they were still alive.

It was as if Konoha itself was mocking him.

None of the civilians had been at their funeral three months ago, though the Sandaime himself had been there. It was the first time civilians were ever honored as ninjas, and his three friends were engraved on the same stone as the Yondaime had been engraved on. But what was the point of being honored when you weren't there to witness it? What was the point of celebrating potential when potential had not been reached?

_You killed them._

On the wooden floor where Naruto laid, he took a deep breath.

I didn't. It was the Uchicha that killed them, not me.

_But it was your birthday they celebrated. If not for you, they wouldn't have died._

But if they weren't there, they would have been killed anyway by the released fox.

_Then it just means you're a danger to everyone._

No. If they killed me from the beginning, the fox would have reformed again.

_And he would have reformed as a weak being. But you were eight, you've had supplied him with enough chakra-_

I'm not arguing about this.

Naruto forcibly ejected the depreciating thoughts out of his mindset. It was something he went through every now and then, and he was determined not to succumb to it. Guilt was irrational, he told himself. And it wasn't ever his fault, right? At least, that was what his psychologist had told him. At least, that was what everyone around him believed, and what he told himself when he pored over the _Shinobi's Psyche_ fifty times in the last month. It was a phrase, right? Jinne-san had told him that he was suffering from survivor's guilt. He had talked with her about a lot of stuff, from PTSD down to bipolar disorder.

Unfortunately, Naruto really wondered whether knowing psychology made him feel any better.

_Monsters don't deserve to feel-_

Shut up and go away.

The thoughts didn't come back, and Naruto repressed the self-doubt. Don't be irrational, he told himself. He took deep breaths to calm his racing heart, and flipped to a specific storage seal. Sometimes, reading about his condition objectively helped him out, and today was no exception.

With a poof, the _Shinobi's Psyche_ appeared in his hand with a flick of a storage seal, which he probably knew most it by heart. He read it regardless, but after a while his eyes just skimmed through the words.

Finally, he threw the book against the wall and felt the ensuing thump ringing throughout the house. Damn it. What was he doing? He put his hand to his head and groaned soundlessly as his head fell back against the floor, and watched the fluttering birds outside the tower. So he could have some days when he was just depressed. So what? Most of the time, depression went away, at least in the long term.

His eyes then drifted upwards, taking in a big chasm. Since the ANBU base was so high up the mountains, Naruto could watch most of Konoha from his vantage point. Only rails separated him from rolling over and ending it all.

He didn't want to though.

He stood up shakily and made his way to the room where he spent most of his time transcribing seals. It was completely white with paper, top down left and bottom. With a poof of smoke, his favorite paintbrush appeared within his fingertips along with four vats of ink.

He started with two seal arrays at the entrance.

It was hours later that Jaraiya arrived at the ANBU tower that he saw Naruto furiously scribbling and writing. In his hands were two plastic bags, both holding chicken rice and a brew of coffee. There was no ramen, because Naruto didn't touch it ever since –their- deaths.

"Naruto. You hungry?"

Naruto stopped his scribbling, and looked up at the toad sannin. Jaraiya took a look at the entire room, filled with seals and blotches of ink. The first time he set this room up with paper lining everything; Naruto had taken his brush and smashed ink everywhere. He supposed it was an improvement since last time.

At least until he saw the snake seal behind Naruto's back. Jaraiya's eyes widened.

"Shi-"

The two seal arrays near the entrance exploded with ink and Jaraiya had barely been able to substitute in time. Although he got the food out of the way, his cloak wasn't so lucky. He growled and body flickered back into the house.

"Damn it Naruto. You little-"

Jaraiya halted at the slumped posture and down-trodden face of his student. If Naruto had been his normal self, he would have probably been laughing at a successfully pulled off prank.

But there wasn't even a hint of a smile, just weariness and disappointment. Just the face of a boy who has lost interest in something that he thought he liked.

_Wanted to see if it was enjoyable, _Naruto signed to Jaraiya, not even looking up. Naruto closed his eyes. _But it's pretty pathetic without them. _

Jaraiya sighed and sat next to the blonde boy.

"Kid. Everyone eventually loses interest in something."

Naruto shook his head. Not like this, he wanted to say. Not like this. It felt like he was betraying everybody. Konohamaru would have wanted him to be happy, after all, Konohamaru had been his pranking partner. Teuchi and Ayame would have wanted him to continue making ramen, but he couldn't even look at it without pangs of guilt and pain.

He didn't even go near the Ichiraku house, and everywhere he went he was reminded of them. The fact that he had hurt himself was another shameful blow, and another reminder that Naruto had betrayed their memory. It was why he was so ashamed of meeting Jaraiya at first.

And then there were the nightmares. Before, he only saw the Uchicha and the Ichiraku family in his dreams. Now he saw Asuma too, accusing him of killing his nephew. He didn't sleep very well last night.

"Taijutsu, Naruto?"

Jaraiya stood up, leaving the food behind. He walked and took a stance in the middle of the room.

_Here? _Naruto signed quizzically. _Sparring indoors?_

" Here. We'll eat afterwards," replied Jaraiya. "You look like you need to clear your mind."

And Naruto gave a regretful face before his body shot forward.

Best not to think about anything for now.

….

"Sensei, I'll have to go in a few days time."

Sarutobi frowned at the proclamation, but he had already accepted this outcome. If Jaraiya didn't start maintaining his contacts again, he would lose them.

Damn. He would miss Jaraiya's kage bunshin and Icha Icha books. Jaraiya seemed to generate Icha Icha books like a storm while he was in Konoha, and Sarutobi was very much a pervert, though Minato didn't seem to share that mentality.

What was he kidding? He wanted to think about this positively.

"Worried about Akatsuki?"

"Very. I'm also worried about what is happening in Ame. I really haven't had time to visit that place though."

"Leaving your teacher alone? I'm going to miss being able to sleep eight hours a day."

"Do your own paperwork you lazy old man."

"I'll just get Naruto to do it."

Sarutobi went back to flipping through the paperwork. For a while he ignored the white haired man in the center of the room. It took five minutes to pass before he regarded his student.

"Well? What do you want?"

"…that's a stupid reason to keep Naruto inside the village."

The atmosphere abruptly changed.

"Jaraiya. Is there something about Naruto you're not telling me?"

The words were amiable enough, but the menacing tone behind the mildness was clear. Jaraiya's mouth set into a thin line.

"Sensei, Naruto needs to get out of Konoha._"_

"I thought we already established this. Naruto is not leaving until after he becomes a chuunin."

Jaraiya felt the frustration line his jaw and his hackles rose.

"Why? I can take care of him just fine."

"Better than an entire village?"

"Seeing what the village did to him, yes."

Twin hands slammed onto the table as Sarutobi met Jaraiya's glare head on.

"Are you accusing me of being a negligent guardian?"

"You know I didn't mean it that way."

"How should I take it then? Is there anyone directly targeting Naruto? I have personally assigned squads of ANBU to guard him, as well as tracking seals on his clothing."

"It isn't about that. This is about Konoha-"

"So Naruto is leaving Konoha too? Is that it?"

"You blame Tsunade for leaving then?"

"That has nothing to do with this."

"It has everything to do with this! Tsunade couldn't even function normally near the place where Dan and Nawaki used to eat. You think Naruto has it any better of-"

"OF COURSE I DON'T!" Sarutobi lashed out. After a moment of silence, his tone turned hollow and empty. "If you think you can do a better job than I can, then just take Naruto and leave. Don't even ask me."

Jaraiya had to keep himself from lashing out with frustration. It was always this way; he was always this way. The argument he had with him when the sannin split, Tsunade's abandonment of Konoha, Jaraiya's own departure of this village…

"Fine," he gritted out.

He didn't expect to come face to face with Naruto when he left.

….

The first instinct Naruto had was to run.

"Kid wait!" Jaraiya exclaimed. He heard the thumps of desperate fleeing. "I said wait!"

Jaraiya flickered forward and grabbed his wrist, forcibly pulling him backwards to meet him face to face. He met his sensei's face, gentle yet stern.

"Kid," he began, voice gentle. "You didn't do anything wrong-"

_Nothing wrong?_ He signed with his free hand.

_What part of that conversation was there anything right?_

His entire body was trembling, and he felt nauseated with what he had seen. It was about him again. It had always been about him-

"You were here before. You heard sensei's argument with Asuma."

Naruto winced, and Jaraiya felt more frustration.

"Do you seriously blame yourself for Asuma leaving?"

Naruto refused to meet Jaraiya's eyes. This elicited an even greater growl of anger.

"What good does a psychologist do if you're in a village like this? Just tell me. I can get you out of here, and you won't have to deal with all the hurt anymore. You won't have to lock yourself in your room everyday and check the door every five minutes. "

Jaraiya could hear the heat in his voice, and he could feel his body boiling. He saw himself in Naruto, and he wanted to save that self in Naruto that he had lost many years ago. He didn't want to leave Naruto alone, and everything about Naruto reminded him of the regret and the pain. That face was still fresh in his mind. He never forgot those dead eyes.

It reminded Jaraiya of the time when Orochimaru was gone and he knew that he was never coming back.

_I'm okay. _Naruto kept trying to assure him. _I can deal with it._

"There are grown-ups thrice your age that can't deal with it."

_I can. It's not so bad…it's just nightmares-_

"Jesus kid!" Jaraiya exploded. "You tried to kill yourself when you were _eight!"_

_I wasn't trying to kill myself. _

"You stuck a blade through your wrist! What else could that be?"

_I don't know!_

Even talking about it was painful. In every single therapy session when he recounted his experiences, Naruto skipped over that part every time. This was the first time he was talking about it.

_I don't know. It was dark and empty, and I saw black everywhere. I felt so dirty, so numb; I wanted something as an outlet. I just saw the knife, and my head got a little less blurry, and I thought that any pain was better than the pain I felt… _

Jaraiya sighed and crouched down to meet his pupil face to face.

"Jeez, why are you so adamant about leaving this village?"

Naruto bowed his head slightly, but there was a sudden life to the movement.

_Jiji didn't deserve that at all._

It certainly was an answer that Jaraiya didn't expect.

"What?"

Heated eyes stared back at him.

_He didn't deserve that all. If you take me away, then there won't be anyone left for him. _

For once, Jaraiya's quick tongue and mind failed him. Always he had been a man of passion and never looking back, but his resolve was suddenly dealt a hammer blow.

It suddenly made sense now, why his sensei had been so upset when he had asked to bring Naruto with him. He didn't want Naruto to leave. Sure, he knew his sensei had people he really cared about, but he had always seen his sensei as a hokage who placed his faith in the village more than he did in the people around him, seemingly disregarding other people for the safety of Konoha. But what he had seen just now was personal attachment and a true bond between grandfather and grandson, and for once the Hokage seemed to be clinging on to someone instead of doing the logical thing.

That is, allowing Jaraiya to start his apprenticeship with Naruto early, leading to a safer and more powerful Naruto.

It stunned Jaraiya with this realization. Sarutobi had given up his entire clan, his wife, his son, almost everything for the sake of Konoha. But with Naruto…

Jaraiya realized that Sarutobi was doing his best, in his own way. He sighed.

"Jeez kid. You really are stubborn."

_Just like your father and mother, _went unsaid.

…

Kakashi didn't dare go near the ANBU base. From what he had heard from ANBU members who tried to check up on the place, it was rigged with at least 500 different security seals, a majority of which were made by a very paranoid kid.

Make that a supremely paranoid kid. He couldn't even see past the walls with his sharingan because of the sheer amount of seals inscribed behind it. If the blonde tenant had been here, he wouldn't even have dreamed about attempting this, but he wanted to know how Naruto had lived after the incident.

"Why don't you just meet Naruto face-to-face?" a voice ringed from behind him.

"Sarutobi-sama!" he replied, turning around in barely restrained surprise.

The Sandaime chuckled and took a puff from the pipe.

"I suggest you don't try," he said, ignoring that he just demonstrated how easily he could have killed Kakashi. "Only Jaraiya and I could get inside without being fried to a crisp."

"He's only been practicing seals for four years."

"A seal master could do anything with enough preparation. And perhaps, if we had prepared for the possibility of Naruto's assassination, things would not have gone the way they are now…"

Kakashi could only feel dismay.

"Sorry sensei."

"Don't apologize. It caught us all by surprise that day."

"Not about that. I'm sorry about not visiting Naruto."

"It's fine."

The way Sarutobi answered him was so light-natured that it was frustrating. The fact that he wouldn't see Naruto again for a long time made the guilt even worse, as if Sarutobi was too disappointed in him to even say anything else. He deserved it of course: all those years of watching over him in ANBU, and he had never even approached him once…

"..ashi. Kakashi."

"Huh?"

"You should pay more attention to your Hokage. I asked you whether you'd be willing to watch over Naruto tonight."

"…I thought he had already left with Jaraiya?"

Sarutobi was silent for a while, but then he couldn't stop himself from smiling.

"No. Naruto chose to stay."

"Why?" _What is possibly important enough to him to stay?_

If Sasuke Uchicha had been offered the same chance, he would have accepted it in a heartbeat. Kakashi knew that he would have accepted it as well, even if it wasn't offered by one of the sannin. Hell, being taught by one of the sannin alone would be an honor people would kill to get.

"He said he didn't want to leave me alone."

Just like Jaraiya, he was stunned to silence.

"T-that's surprisingly mature."

"Isn't it? I laughed when I heard his reason. It makes me a little happy too."

"Well…" Kakashi began sheepishly. Now that Naruto wasn't gone, he wasn't as inclined to break into Naruto's house. "I guess I apologize for trying to break into Naruto's living quarters…"

"Nonsense. You came here to meet Naruto, so you are going to meet him."

"Wait!"

"And besides, Naruto will be going to the academy starting tomorrow. As ANBU captain, I expect you to prevent all assassination attempts. So don't argue with me, you are going to meet Naruto, and you are going to tell him that your ANBU are not secretly Uchicha in disguise."

It was going to be a long day.

A/N: I don't like how this chapter turned out. In-between tests and other crap, I could hardly finish this. But oh well. Next chapter, Naruto will go to the academy. I don't know, this chapter feels like a long-ass explanation why Naruto is not going with Jaraiya early. And maybe quite a bit of foreshadowing.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed. O.O


	11. Friend

For the last few days, there had been a new boy outside.

He was blond-haired, small, whiskered and quiet. His steps were utterly silent, and the way he whispered to himself gave of an air of jumpy nervousness. He had not been introduced to the class and had not been invited inside the class. So far, he seemed to be unnoticed by the teachers as far as Shikimaru could discern from behind the window.

Chouji, ever the big eater, crumpled his plastic bag noisily as he followed Shikimaru's gaze outside the window. He watched as the boy played with a kunai in his hands, and suddenly ripped his arm with it.

Chouji silently gagged.

Even from a distance, the blood was easily visible. The blonde boy ran his hand through all the blood and dripped it onto an orange utensil. He then scribbled something on the tree in front of him, and laid his bloody palm on it. With that, he placed his hands together as in prayer, closed his eyes, and Shikimaru saw the scribbling glow red before disappearing altogether.

The way the boy tore blood from his arm never failed to make Chouji uncomfortable. Yet, the ritual itself was strangely fascinating, in a sick sort of sense. He watched as the boy repeat the process on yet another tree and stared as a piece of bark was torn out and vanished into a strange piece of paper.

Chouji would have thought that such a ritual would be very taxing on the body, but whenever he managed to catch a glimpse of the boy's arm, it looked completely unblemished, as if the boy hadn't been cutting himself every five minutes. Even so, Chouji's face was curled up into a permanent cringe, a comical face for a chubby person.

Distantly, he failed to register the chalk aimed for both his and Shikimaru's forehead, which Iruka had hurled with extreme precision and force. Both of them snapped into attention at the same time as the projectile slammed into them, and the class roared with laughter at the sound of the slap.

"Shikimaru! Chouji! There is no one teaching anything outside!"

Beside him, Shikimaru grumbled something to the teacher, and Chouji was forced to look away from the window. A few moments later, when he looked back, the boy was no longer there.

Needless to say, he still wondered. Who was that boy?

A certain Hyuuga Hinata sitting a few seats away had the same question.

…..

If Naruto didn't write his seals with his blood, they didn't work. Or at least, his ink seals paled in comparison to his blood seals.

Oh sure, he could still make ink seals work. It was just that his blood seals were a lot better. Naruto might have had a problem with that if he hadn't had the Kyuubi inside of him, but having a chakra system half made out of youki made everything regenerative; all the way up to blood. Having the ability to digest food way faster than the average guy probably helped a lot too, as his storage seals of grub would pertain.

It was still a quite a bit of a hassle though, although the special kunai had made it easier. Every cut he made with it drew out blood into a specialized storage seal, which he later injected directly into the orange brush Jaraiya gave him. It was more of an orange stick now, considering that the strands were worn out long ago. Regardless, Naruto could write with any part of it.

It was into his 300th seal that Naruto had received feedback from one of the security seals; someone had entered the perimeter in his vicinity. His breath came out in anxious heaves because few people, if ever, came into this part of the academy. He had laced the entire academy with seals long before jiji had announced his coming here, just to prepare for the prospect of being here. He knew what was frequently visited and what was not, and the place he was in had not gotten seal feedback for years.

It was, after all, a run-down, old complex of the academy that was no longer used. Yet, someone was in the building, and they were not on ordinary paths either. They were wall-walking, not walking through the corridors or on the floor. That meant only one thing: they were hiding, and Naruto was possibly being watched this very instant.

Naruto immediately scanned the walls, the ceilings, and maneuvered around the decrepit desks, chairs and boxes that were simply left abandoned long ago. He ignored the musky smell of old things and walked nonchantly into the corridor from the room. From here, he could hear the sounds of children in the real academy; even see from his vantage point the many kids having lunch. Although they looked like little ants to him, they calmed him down a little, but still didn't ease his paranoia.

Seal feedback coming from his right inwardly alarmed him, but he maintained an outward calm. He was trembling, but hiding it well, and simultaneously tracking down the person with the seal feedback. Finally, he pinpointed the position of the person, and held his hands in the snake position.

He let ten seals explode simultaneously.

A wail pierced his ears, and Naruto winced. That…did not sound like an assassin in the least. Also, the seal feedback gave indication of a person writhing in pain, not a trained ninja forced to overcome the pain. Even so, for someone to evade his seals that long meant a very skilled person in stealth and Naruto was still cautious. Nevertheless, Naruto walked towards the center of the seal feedback.

And around the corner into a dim alley, he came into contact with a blue-haired pupil-less girl.

Immediately, Naruto's suppressed trembling resumed twice-fold. While he knew now that the person was not an assassin, somehow the thought of confronting a person his own age was far scarier. Oh, he knew his grandfather would probably cover up for anything he did, but he still got the "I'm screwed" feeling, and the "I really fucked up this time" sentiment. He was suddenly glad he had not called ANBU.

The girl looked at him, whimpering, and tears of pain running down her cheeks. She clutched her legs and held herself in the fetal position. It reminded Naruto of Ayame when she was bullied, and against his better judgment, he walked towards her instead of running away like he should have. Wordlessly, he took out a medical seal, and got closer to the girl. Her tortured heaves got both quieter as he approached, yet louder, and Naruto had no idea how to communicate anything to her. Despite this, she offered no resistance as Naruto gingerly lifted her arms away from her badly burned legs and held the medical seal to her shins.

As green light bathed her legs, the girl's tortured heaves slowly gave way to quieter and quieter breaths. The pain smoldering her body ebbed and diminished slowly afterwards. Soon, on closer inspection, her legs were completely healed and her pained sobs had stopped. Naruto then made the mistake of meeting her curious gaze head on.

"…."

"…"

Flustered, Naruto turned away and ran, away from the old place. He jumped down the stairs two by two and ran. There was a twinge of regret that formed in the back of his brain, but he ignored it in favor of rationality.

….

"So how was school today, Naruto?"

_It was okay, _he signed to his grandfather. Besides the fact that he almost blew up an academy student, he chose not to comment that he hadn't even entered the classroom yet, though it wasn't as if the instructors were clamoring for his presence.

Unknown to him, his grandfather already knew, but chose not to risk Naruto's mental stability over a social concept. Nevertheless, his grandfather gave of the air of an old veteran calmly chewing a pipe and went back to watching naked women in his crystal ball. Naruto went back to his miniature desk and chair, a corner of the Hokage room that was dedicated to him and him alone, and sat down with an orange stick already in his hands.

He eyed his latest projects of his sealing as he plopped down on the colorful chair. Every now and then, his grandfather approached him and helped him out. But other than being warned not to sketch seals on his body, Sarutobi placed no restrictions on what he did with seals anymore.

After all, with one's own blood being a far better chakra conductor than ink, it was hard to rein in someone like that, especially an ex-prank master.

He took out his orange stick and began working.

…..

The next week passed in a blur. Besides spending all his time reading, inscribing seals and mimicking taijutsu stances, Naruto never strayed from the old building. He made some attempts to go near the academy court-yard at least, but he chickened out before he even came near.

His latest project was working pretty well though. It was a push/pull seal that was designed to store kinetic energy and suck it in. It wasn't working as well as Naruto would have liked, but it was still working, which meant that he was doing something right. Besides, no matter how hard he hit the seal with a hammer, the wood never broke, though the object that was supporting it did.

That was the problem, incidentally. It was no use for blocking attacks if the structure behind it got broken too.

However, there was one redeeming feature that made Naruto happy with it anyway, and stopped it from being a complete failure and a waste of a few months. It had the ability to release all the kinetic energy it gathered in one burst, which made it potentially useful.

And it was this accidental discovery that made Naruto smile in silent excitement instead of shaking his head in frustration at yet another failed project.

After a few more practiced swings at the wooden seal, Naruto took out a desk and an empty box outside. He prompted the box on the table and placed the wooden seal against its side. With a little burst of chakra, all of the force directed itself onto the small light weight box and Naruto watched it fly all the way into the horizon. It was so addicting to watch that Naruto did it all over again, the room of unused boxes beckoning him.

But as he watched the boxes fly, he also noticed the academy children playing together. From his vantage point, he saw friends laughing, petty arguments, and other social activities that reminded him of his loss.

He shook his head and told himself he didn't care and that it was better to be alone, but the rationalizations sounded empty to him. A part of him longed for the days of Ayame, Teuchi and Konohamaru, though he squashed the thoughts right afterwards. It wasn't fair to bring people in to his mess, and he already shed too many tears over it. Anyway, he wasn't even sure if anyone besides his jiji even wanted him, nobody besides the toad sannin or the Sandaime would care if he died.

It was then that he got seal feedback from the entrance of the building. Someone was walking in, normally too. Was it a teacher? Or was it a…

He felt the seal feedback slowly itching towards his location, from the entrance to up the stairs and towards where he stood.

It couldn't be.

But it was.

He found himself face to face with a blue-haired girl.

"…"

"…"

Despite looking like she wanted to run away, she still itched forward until she stood a foot away, and then she shuffled slightly forward. With her head bowed, her eyes closed, she thrust out a bento box in his direction: the epitome of shyness and feared rejection.

Awkwardly, Naruto took the box in much the same manner from his sitting position, and soon the both of them just froze there. Naruto had no idea how to communicate anything to her; it wasn't as if he had practice since _them_. Even so, he still wanted to try.

A wisp of smoke later, a piece of paper was in his hands. He scribbled something on it, and held it out for the girl to read.

_Do you want me to eat this?_

The girl nodded, and Naruto managed not to drop anything as he hesitantly opened the box. With that done, he took a bite from it, and then cautiously took one bite more.

Politely, he sampled the food. The girl sat down next to him and watched as he ate a mouthful, her eyes following his every move. It was very uncomfortable, but Naruto managed.

"W-was it okay?"

A short segment of scribbling later after he put down his chopsticks, Hinata had her answer.

_It was good._

"I-I'm glad…"

She sniffed a little bit then, and for some reason, seemed like a very lonely individual to Naruto. Despite his anxiety, Naruto reached out and touched her arm, offering some of the food from his storage seal. Hinata simply stared at the food, and Naruto moved his arm forward a bit in a "go on" gesture.

"T-thanks…"

Naruto gave her his best smile, and continued to eat from the bento box the girl gave him.

….

A/N: I'm back!


	12. The Best

"The statistics on sanity are that one out of every four people is suffering from a mental illness. Look at your 3 best friends. If they're ok, then it's you."  
>― Rita Mae Brown<p>

…..

It was doubtful that Naruto even enjoyed being around her.

But that was okay.

Even if Naruto was someday going to abandon her, even though she knew that he potentially didn't value her, being around him was better than being alone. It was for this reason that accompanying him was a bittersweet experience. Despite how he didn't welcome her, he staved off a little of the isolation she felt.

So she did what she did best. She treated Naruto like she treated her father.

After all, not getting people angry was her specialty. If she didn't irritate Naruto, then she could delay the inevitable event of Naruto deserting her. She was already doing everything she could to prevent that from happening. Cooking the best lunches. Never speaking against him. Obeying him unquestionably.

Somtimes, she had nightmares about a person coming to snatch Naruto away from her. She dreamt that one day she would wake up and Naruto would be with someone else, leaving her all alone. In some dreams, he laughed at her, in others; he lashed out at her as she reached for him.

All of them ended the same way. She would watch him walk away, and leave her forever in the Hyuuga mansion. The iron gates would close after him, and a seal would be branded over her forehead. Her mother would be there, and Hinata would watch her die in a puddle of her own blood. His father was the one who branded the seal over her forehead.

"_Failure…"_

And Hinata would gasp like always at those words, whenever she woke up.

She didn't even notice as a man stood moved behind her. She didn't detect the stern presence as she absent-mindedly chopped at the onions. It was only a fierce "Hinata" that made her drop her knife in fright. She spun around and came face-to-face with the man she most feared.

Makoto Hyuuga was a particular main family member that seemed to hate her ever since birth. When her mother was there, the most he did was comment about her negatively, but sometime after her mother was gone and when she turned 7, he started taking her for "training sessions" where he "taught" her the Jyuuken.

He had never been gentle in his teachings. Although he had never gone far enough to permanently cripple her, his blows left bruises and cracked bones. Sometimes, he even broke a few bones, but the branch family medic who tended to her was sworn to secrecy.

Always she was healed just enough to not hinder her, but wrack her body with pain throughout the night. She never dared tell her father because she was far too scared of both her father and Makoto.

Besides, even if her father was aware that the main family member was hurting her, he probably would have done nothing about it anyway. Then Makoto would find out, and then she would be punished.

"You seem rather happy nowadays, Hinata," said the stoic man. There was a hidden tone that promised even more pain than usual. "Is there something I should know about? No matter, follow me into the training room."

Damn it. She got caught this time, and she had avoided him for a whole month too…

"Y-Y-Yes…Makoto-sensei…"

Frightened, she followed his footsteps into the dojo, and bowed towards him. A barely growled "get into stance" followed by a powerful jyuuken strike headed her way. He would not stop until she was down, she knew. That didn't stop her from instinctively parrying his blow. This seemed to make him even angrier.

"Getting better at taijutsu?"

His strikes started to get more vindictive, more vicious. Hinata fought for her life. A Jyuuken strike pierced through her defense and slammed into her gut. A snap-kick directly to her face sent her to the ground.

She wheezed as bile ran up her throat, but she forced herself to swallow the vomit down. The last time she vomited on the floor, her sensei had been merciless.

"Get up."

Shaking, she got up. Her arms burned with pain. A series of strikes were sent against Hinata, with Hinata simply blocking. Again her sensei struck her torso, sending her crumpling to the ground.

"Get up."

She forced herself to get up again. Gradually, her body started to hurt badly as she stood against her sensei. Every movement she took made her body burn with pain. Eventually, a strike sent her to the ground again, and again, and again. Finaly, even her teacher's grating "get up" seemed distant to her conscious.

Black and white spots of pain obscured her vision. Her body started to dissociate from the pain.

Despite this, the last thought she had before she passed out was about Naruto. She still hadn't made lunch for him yet.

…..

Sometimes, Hinata wondered if her father was even here half the time. She supposed it was a good thing, since she was never supervised. If she could, she would spend all day outside of Hyuuga territory, but the gates of the Hyuuga household closed at 3pm, and would leave her with no food and no place to stay.

No girl wanted to be alone and defenseless in a ninja village.

Her primary motivation for going to the academy was escaping the household and avoiding Makoto. Even if the social construct there reminded her of her isolation, it was still better than home.

She held the box lunch in her bruised arms, wincing at each movement. Thank god she had finished the box lunch, even though she had to spend all night doing it in secret. She hid her limp the best she could on the way to school, dreaming about giving the box to Naruto.

And indeed, Naruto had been there, in the outskirts of the forest, far away from the academy. The moment she stepped foot onto the abandoned academy grounds, Naruto had appeared, looking at her in confusion.

_Hinata? Why are you here so early?_

She reached out with trembling hands, but the pain forced her to drop the bento box. She watched as the contents spilled all over the floor. Oh no. The food…

Strong but gentle hands lifted her up, and she came face to face with the blonde boy. His azure eyes pierced her soul. She disappointed him. She knew it. He was going to stop being her friend.

"T-The f-food…" she apologized, and an intense anger flashed across the Blonde's face.

_Who did this to you? _

"W-What?" She didn't expect the question.

_The bruises. Who inflicted these on you?_

"I-I…"

Hinata was suddenly hefted onto Naruto's back, and Naruto gave on a soundless grunt. Hinata was just as big as he was, and he was pretty weak, so he had to use chakra to augment his strength. He felt Hinata's weak grasp over his neck, and hurried towards the academy so he could heal her in private.

All Hinata felt was Naruto's warm back, confusion, and utter exhaustion.

….

Umino Iruka liked to keep track of his students. In fact, amongst all of the teachers in the academy, Iruka was said to be the most involved of all of them, and made the most comprehensive records. It was rumored that he used to be in T&I and ANBU, but more than that, he was the most passionate.

You only needed one look at the man's behavior towards children and tell that his disposition was not geared towards killing. Instinctively, he seemed to pick up what was wrong amongst his pupils and how to fix them. There was a reason, after all, why the Hokage took his advice directly.

Yet, he did have his faults. He could not evenly divide his attention between 200 students. He did not have the time to personally treat Uchicha Sasuke's mental afflictions. He was restricted by political intervention, so he could do little towards clan kids without permission.

However, Hyuuga Hinata's behavior ensnared him.

Somehow over the past two months, she abruptly started to get less depressed and less frightened about things around her. Yes, she was still very shy and quiet, but she seemed a little more confident. Not to mention, her practical grades seemed to be improving in every aspect.

It was a good change; however, the brown-haired teenager couldn't help but be intrigued by the sudden shift. For months he had wanted to do something to alleviate the girl's self-destructive personality, but he was restricted by politics, _again. _Every day he had watched the girl stand on the sidelines, alone, and on bad days, he had seen the girl wince painfully with every movement.

There was a reason why Hinata wore long-sleeved shirts, even into the summer.

Oh yes he suspected, forced to grit his teeth and do nothing. However, if there was any way to indirectly help, he would seize that opportunity in a heartbeat.

…

Inside one of the rooms of the abandoned academy, Naruto hunched over the motionless body of a blue-haired girl. Wood casted fluorescent green light and blue eyes dulled with confliction. A mind ran over a thousand miles a minute, a body tightened with anxiety.

She looked so peaceful, now that she slept. Her chest fluttered up and down, her body snuggled under layers of blankets. Naruto wiped the sweat off his face, and suppressed the twinges of demonic chakra with a clenched jaw.

The bruises that Hinata Hyuuga sustained wasn't something uncommonly seen. Naruto himself had observed clan children staggering to school after particularly exhausting days. However, the bruises themselves only _seemed_ relatively benign. It was the damage within the body itself that struck at him.

Whoever inflicted these wounds did so in an exceedingly calculated way. He struck hard enough to cause the phantom pain, but soft enough such that the wounds would be mistaken as common ailments. Not just that, but the specific points that were struck on the body were pain-points; nodes of axons that were particularly sensitive to foreign invasive chakra.

Those nodes were torture nodes.

Naruto wasn't a medic nin, but he had enough general knowledge to know about pressure points in the body. Jiji had pummeled those lessons into his head, and he had attempted to use pressure points to gain leverage in certain spars. One particular lesson stood out in his head; Jaraiya had flicked him straight in the solar plexus and he had gone down like a log. Even with the Kyuubi's regenerative chakra, Naruto felt nauseated for the next two hours. His head spun so badly that bright light sent daggers straight in to his head. And the whole time, Jaraiya was frantically swearing apologies every five seconds.

Hinata didn't have the Kyuubi's regenerative chakra and her assailant wasn't remorseful in the least. Several of the pressure points of Hinata's arms could only have been reached by extensive chakra expulsion, vindictive chakra expulsion. He felt himself getting angry over this, even though he shouldn't be. It was none of his business. Hinata was just a lonely girl that he couldn't entirely push away.

"D-Don't l-leave…"

Naruto felt himself stiffen.

"P-Please d-don't l-leave m-me…"

Her tone struck piercing spears into his body. She reminded him of too much. Even now, a scene of Konohamaru and Ayame was flashing across his eyes; he saw them hit the floor lifeless, as if in slow motion. Teuchi was dying in front of his eyes.

_Please don't leave me…_

Naruto slapped away the hand that reached for him, and pedaled backwards. He couldn't make friends with anyone that wasn't an S-rank ninja. If they weren't S-rank, he would lose them. That was how it was, and that was how it always would be.

"I-I'll do a-anything…j-just don't l-leave…"

_Shut up, _he wanted to say. But he had no vocal chords.

"I'll d-do a-anything…"

He couldn't deal with that voice of desperation. It struck too many chords within him. He was too close, he had to get away. Distantly, he saw one of the seals on the wall glow, and he felt himself going dead inside. His eyes hardened into conviction.

It was for the best.

…..

A/N: I really should be studying. But I had to get something up, especially with all the ideas floating around my head. So I decided to pick one and go with it. Props if you can predict what will happen in the future with all of the characterization.

Thanks to RamenKnight and Aidis for reviewing. And thanks for the PMs too. For some reason, I have been getting declining feedback after chapter 10, so comments on why this is so would be welcome too!

Uh…R&R I guess?


	13. Hers

It was dark. It was so dark that Hinata didn't know that she opened her eyes until she sat up.

"Byakugan," she whispered.

Contours of the objects in the dark materialized and dark grey commodities flittered into her vision. Instead of the empty room she had been expecting, this accommodation was much more cluttered, with a variety of other beds stood across the room. Trays of utensils were parked next to the beds, almost like a hospital.

She tested her weight on the floor. She winced; her muscles screamed in protest. However, it was far less painful than she had expected, usually, the days after Makoto-sensei's lessons filled her body with agony.

She walked to the giant windows and threw open the curtains. The lights of the entire village blinded her for a few terse seconds. She deactivated her Byakugan out of reflex.

Incandescent fires cast amber lights into the room. She saw houses and houses being lit up by man-made lamps, driving back the darkness of the sky to yonder and beyond. She never knew the Hyuuga household had such a good view; the entire village was breath-taking from her perspective.

A figure with an ANBU mask dropped down into her vision, scaring her. She jumped in fright, and the figure rushed back up away from the window. Soon afterwards, the door to her room opened. In came the Sandaime Hokage.

"S-S-Sandaime Hokage-sama!" she squeaked in shock. What was he doing here? "I-I d-didn't k-know you w-were c-coming!"

"Coming, Hinata? You're in the Hokage tower."

She felt herself reeling from the shock. She was in the Hokage tower?

As if sensing her distress, the Sandaime gave her a grandfatherly smile, as if to reassure her that everything was alright. But nothing was alright.

"W-W-What's going o-on?"

A hand was laid upon her shoulder, and the Hokage smiled again.

"Don't worry. You haven't done anything wrong. We're just going to keep you here for a little while. Make yourself at home."

"B-But…"

"Are you hungry, thirsty? I'll send someone over, alright?"

Hinata quelled down her protests and obeyed; something that she did best. She was carried back onto the bed, and allowed her sore body to relax on to the fabric, which was softer than her own bed at home.

By the time the attendant arrived into the room, Hinata was already asleep.

….

"…the subject has suffered extensive internal consecutive damage over the past three years, affecting her coordination, cognitive abilities and strength. In addition, we detect several problems regarding the abdominal tract, and extensive damage in the bone structure of her arms…"

"…further analysis has allowed us to conclude that given the rate of internal damage, if continued, will eventually lead to the expiration of her immune and nervous system. Symptoms include fainting spells, nausea, phantom pains, cramps, as well as constant hemorrhaging inside the body, leading to wide-spread hematoma. Further analysis of the pressure points struck show-"

The Sandaime raised up his hand to cut off the attendant.

"I don't want a three-hour long lecture on the ailments of the patient. Give me a short conclusion."

"Hai, Hokage-sama. The conclusion is that if the pressure points struck are continued to be struck, the girl will eventually die of internal damage and chakra disruption."

"You are dismissed."

The attendant disappeared in a swirl of leaves, and the Sandaime rubbed the bridge of his nose in frustration.

Unlike the body itself, pressure points got more sensitive to being struck the more they were assaulted. This was because internal organs could not be trained, but also because electrical synapses, when struck with enough force, would be altered permanently. Thus, damage followed by more damage led to an overall weakening of the body's capability to recover and a much higher fatality rate over time.

Maybe he had been too lax about the policies regarding the clans, just like he had with the Uchicha. He had half a mind to just destroy all the clans and implement new policies, but that would trigger civil war. Yet, the practices that was going on among the Hyuuga was simply unacceptable.

A man's stern presence drew his attention, his long blue hair straightened against his back. Hyuuga Hiashi, hm? He had a lot of things to say to him. He didn't hide his biting tone.

"Your clan certainly is the pinnacle of honorable practices, isn't it?"

"Hokage-sama, allow me to deal with the matter on my own."

"How can I expect you to deal with this matter if you cannot even deal with your own daughter for the last five years? How is it that this abuse has been going on under your nose for years?"

"Clan policy dictates that matters regarding their clan members are obligated to be handled by the clan head-"

"-unless there is _direct, planned harm to nin under the Hokage's rule, _43- 7a. All ninja is under my rule, clan member or not, thus I have the power to decide the fate of your daughter. I would like you to give me one acceptable reason for your transgression."

"I had neither warning nor report of the situation."

"That is a stupid excuse, boy. Any remotely decent father would be able to detect physical abuse by calculated Juuken strikes without report or warning. I know your devastation over your wife's death, but your utter negligence of the girl for five years is an unacceptable practice. With your cold demeanor, constant proclamations of her lack of talent, and complete disregard for her safety, it makes me wonder if you are even her father. The only thing stopping me from transferring the girl straight into the union of chakra-users is that I have no wish to humiliate you. And I'm this close from not caring."

"What will pacify you then? For you to keep this is a secret?"

"Even now, you care more about your reputation than about your daughter?"

"Reputation goes both ways, Hokage-sama."

Sarutobi stopped himself from giving another lashing to this boy, and instead allowed himself to fume off some frustration. This was the same clan where branch members were treated as slaves. This was the same clan where the weak members were treated like shit, not unlike the Uchicha.

What, did he expect the Hyuuga clan to be saints? Essentially, the Uchicha and the Hyuga were one and the same. If the Uchicha could view an exceptional ninja like Uchicha Sasuke with disappointment, it was only expected that they would view a "failure" like Hinata as scum under their shoes.

Finally, with gritted teeth, he spoke.

"I want the perpetrator sent to me. You will allow me to do whatever I want with him."

Hiashi began to speak up, but Sandaime cut him off.

"For the continued assault of an apprentice nin, I will charge him with treason, but I will not make his charge public."

"I see."

"You are dismissed."

He watched as the Hyuuga clan head disappear in a swirl of leaves, and reached for a pipe.

This was the most he could do according the Kanoha's law. He could prevent direct assaults, but he could not give a happy life to clan members outside of that.

Besides, there was no guarantee that Hinata's life would be any better in the union of chakra-users.

…..

Hospital life in the Hokage's tower was lonely. It would have been worse if she was in the medical wing of the Hyuuga household, but she envied the patients in the general medical wings.

However, it was even worse now that a person whom she dedicated a schedule over had completely disappeared. Over the past two weeks, no one had come. Only the nurses tended to her and the birds cropped in her window. Everything would be fine if hecame, but he didn't. Did he lose affection for her because she wasn't making lunch? If so, she would make lunch!

She just didn't want him to leave.

Only an ANBU figure she sometimes sensed outside the window kept her company. She consistently found the personage just out of the range of the Byakugan, but when she did entrap him in her sight, she was incapable of penetrating the cloak or the ANBU mask.

How pathetic was that, to look towards an ANBU figure for company? Even now, she found herself staring wistfully out the window, so much that she didn't notice the opening of the door.

"Hinata."

Hinata spun around in shock, only to come face to face with the Sandaime.

"Hokage-sama!" she squeaked.

"You need to work on your ability to detect people around you." Sarutobi chuckled sadly. "In any case, your father is coming back to pick you up tomorrow. Your wounds would have healed by then."

"I see." she got out in disappointment.

The Hokage got up and started to leave, seemingly having passed on his message to her.

"Wait!" she burst out. "W-Where is Naruto?"

Immediately, Sarutobi frowned instead of giving words of comfort.

"He is not here," was the soft reply.

"What?"

"I'm sorry," For a moment, the Sandaime's eyes flashed with distant sorrow. "You probably won't see him again."

Hinata had to bite her lip from asking another inappropriate question as she processed the Hokage's words. What did her Hokage mean by that? Despair leaked into her body, and her mind simply went numb.

She knew it. All those times were a lie.

She wanted to cry, to scream, but nothing came out. Naruto was like everyone else; when she was hurt, they turned away. She thought that he was different; he had came back to heal her, something no one else ever did for her. Here she thought that he might even have been her friend.

"Are you okay?" said the grandfatherly individual.

Hinata simply gave a strained smile.

"I'm alright," she lied.

She was anything but.

…

It was midnight. Hinata was on the hospital bed, and it looked like she wasn't going to sleep anytime soon.

She just thought, somewhat disinterestedly, about a certain blonde-haired boy. Her mind replayed all their scenes together, her eating lunch alongside his quiet exterior, the occasional burst of speech, that one time Naruto had showed her how to blow up an explosive tag…

She felt it then; the silent footsteps of an individual facing her back. A gentle hand and the covers were pulled up over her. A hand reached out to ruffle her hair, and a blink later, the message clear.

By the time Hinata got up and realized who that individual was, it was too late. Don't leave, she wanted to scream.

She rushed to the window and looked up and down. The wind was especially frigid tonight. There was no trace of him. Byakugan blazing, she noticed nearly undetectable trails of seals on her bed and on the walls. How could she have never noticed? And then she stared down onto the ground, and her mind burst into clarity.

She jumped. The ground started to race towards her, and if she hit it, she would probably break a few bones. Air buffeted her body as she fell from the 14th story of the Hokage tower, and an ANBU figure darted down towards her direction.

And caught her.

The figure, grasping her, unsuccessfully tried to reattach them to the wall. It failed, so there was a poof of smoke and a giant mattress crashed onto the plaza of the Hokage tower. They both fell on it and Hinata felt the breath being slammed out of her lungs. A mask came loose to reveal a spiky-haired figure.

_Are you absolutely insane? _Naruto signed. _What are you thinking?_

He looked at the girl he had saved, and watched as tears dripped onto the white fabric: tears that stemmed from the girl's eyes. She shouldn't be crying over him. It felt wrong; it felt like a big horrible mistake. He never intended for her to get so attached to him, to want him back.

"Do you not like me anymore?" Her voice was a mixture of unsuppressed crying and high-pitched hiccups. "I've never asked if we could be friends, but if you aren't, I don't mind cooking for you. Even if you're just using me, I don't care."

He would rather she hate him. He couldn't get close. The pain of losing someone…he could never bear it. And she… deserved more than a demon that dragged everyone to hell with him.

_I'm sorry, _he signed.

Hinata broke into sobs.

"Why? Is it because I'm ugly? Or am I annoying? Weak?"

He should have confirmed her questions. It would have pushed her away forever then. But for some reason, he reached out and wiped her tears away instead.

_No. _The soundless words started to tumble out of Naruto's mouth uncontrollably. _You're pretty. You smell nice. You're strong. _

_But there are a lot of people out there that are better than me. _

"I-I…c-can't…" she sobbed. She grabbed his shirt like a drowning person grasped a boat.

Naruto's face was tender though. He reached out and patted her head.

_I'm not worth that._

And a shock tag later, Hinata fell unconscious again.

….

"Did he sexually assault you?"

"No."

"Besides the training lessons, did he do anything to you?"

"No."

It was possibly mid-sunrise to noon, the morning after Hinata got home. Sunlight filtered into the training room, casting long shadows across the tatami mats that she and her father were sitting in seiza. He was busy interrogating her, and Hinata couldn't even bring herself to care.

She wanted to get out of this entire place.

"…inata. Hinata. Are you listening to me?"

"Yes."

It was a lie. Already, her mind was fixated on the songs of the birds. The branch members served as an ugly reminder to what kind of clan she was in. The looks of hatred that the relatives of Makoto gave her still dwelled in her mind, and did not go unobserved when she walked into the house.

Yet, she forced herself to look her father in the eye.

"…listen when your elders speak to you."

Her father's face disgusted her. It was the same as always: stern, cold, disinterested. It had been like that ever since her mother's death and it always seemed especially hardened when he focused his gaze on her.

There was a time when she remembered him laughing and even playing with her. There was a time when he carried her on his shoulders and played ball with her like any good parent did.

But those times were long ago.

And resentment and bitterness rose up her throat.

"You don't care."

Hiashi flinched inwardly with surprise at the tone.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me," she whispered harshly, not caring. "You don't care. You never have. Why would you care now?"

The chirping of the birds dissociated themselves from Hinata's brain. The noises of the branch members working failed to register in her ears. Only her harsh breathing held her attention.

"…I hate you. You were never my father."

If Hinata had been herself, she would have noticed a flicker of pain ran across her father's face. But by this point, she didn't care.

"Hinata…"

She got up and slapped away the hand reaching for her.

"Don't touch me!" she clamored. "I hate you! You don't give a shit about me! I was so lonely after mother died, but you were never there!"

She heard a "Hinata!" after her, but she continued to flee the room, not even glancing back. Harsh hiccups racked her body as she ran, her feet pounding across the mats that were ubiquitous in the Hyuuga household.

When she finally got to her room, she slammed the board closed behind her, and collapsed on the floor. She didn't even realize that she was crying until she saw circular drips of moisture on the tatami mats, and that the hiccups that were escaping her throat was actually sobs.

What did she have in life now? This wasn't a fairy tale where she could magically get together with her father again. This wasn't a story.

But she heard Naruto's words reverberate through her brain, and one of her hands had clasped a nearby kunai unconsciously. She gazed at the kunai; well crafted with strong twine adorning the handle. The sharpness appealed to her, and an epiphany hit her.

Naruto didn't want her because she was weak. Her father hated her because she was weak. Makoto could bully her because she was weak.

But she could remedy that. No matter how many times her body broke, she could make herself stronger.

Once again, her gaze drifted down to the kunai that she held in her hands. A new reason for living blossomed in her brain as her eyes fixated on a distant image of Naruto. Her grip on the kunai tightened, and she smiled slightly, demurely, at a hidden joke.

She would get strong.

And then she would make Naruto hers.

….

A/N: Too sudden? Too rushed? Give me your thoughts people! Tell me what you think!

Man, I thought summer would have made me less busy, but my part-time job took up a lot more time than I thought it would have. *cries*

Oh well. Now I know for sure I can do a chapter weekly, no problem.

Anyway, thanks to all my reviewers who came back! I thought that people were abandoning my story, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it to be. Thanks to my four reviewers!

Transcendent Oddity, thanks for your PMs and reviews. If I'm still spelling Jiraiya wrong, please notify me and I'll make changes.

Aidis, How bad is the censorship? Anyone care to shed light on it for me, or at least tell me what it is about?


	14. Kids

_You don't notice that a person has changed until it's too late. _It was a regular idiom spoken by Ino's father, and Ino often took it to heart. After all, she had been on the receiving end of this aphorism when Sakura had abruptly and distressingly cut off her friendship with her over one stupid boy. A boy she still pretended to like, if only to stay semi-close to Sakura.

Right now though, she was more than a bit worried about the blue-haired girl who had been missing from the academy for two whole weeks. She had thought nothing about it at first; no one questioned the most powerful clan in Kanoha. However, watching said girl stare at the ground instead of being a spectator to the normally interesting taijutsu bouts was aggrieving by itself.

"Hinata?" she asked. "What's wrong?"

"E-Everything," Hinata answered, looking fixatedly at the dirt. She was still soft-spoken. Still demure, the recognizable stutter still there, though remarkably diminished. But there was a fundamental upheaval about her that disturbed Ino.

A buzzing sense of wrongness settled in the pit of Ino' stomach as she watched the blue-haired girl stand up. She had never made an effort to be close to the girl, because fraternizing with a Hyuuga member was tantamount to social suicide. However, she did try to look out for her every now and then, even if the girl was easily forgettable.

She tried to go after her, but a call to her right alerted her. She turned to catch sight of a familiar pink-haired already ready to start a new round of banter. But she could care less about Sakura right now.

Already, Hinata was at the taijutsu ground, a dirt circle marked by jammed kunai. Ino got close enough to hear Sasuke defeat another hapless academy student with a powerful straight right, and she heard raunchy cheers. Sasuke wiped at the sweat at his brow as he coldly watched his victim stumble back into the spectators. Meanwhile, the instructor called out for a volunteer.

No one volunteered, who in their right mind would? The only person who ever beat Sasuke on a one-to-one fight was Kiba, and everyone knew that was a fluke. Indeed, the teacher started to sigh and mumble about unmotivated ninja and sore losers, getting ready to select a student from the crowd randomly.

No one expected Hinata to speak up.

"I-I'll do it."

The instructor startled in surprise, as well as all the spectators. Ino went completely speechless; this was so anomalistic of Hinata that it frightened her. Fight Sasuke? The best taijutsu practitioner in the school? Out of all the girls in the school, Hinata was probably the weakest girl in the bunch and had the reputation of being "the debilitated Hyuuga". She was the only girl besides Sakura that ever lost to Shikimaru. And Shikimaru _sucked._

"Hinata?" the teacher asked in alarm. This was the first time in a long time that Hinata ever voluntarily fought in public. "You've never fought with the upper-tiers until now…"

"Hinata?" Ino found herself butting in. "You don't look well this morning-"

"I-I can d-do it."

Ino flinched backwards at the sharpness of her gaze, and noticed the faint chakra burns on her palms.

She then watched Hinata's eyes seek out Sasuke's face, and killing intent permeated the air. It was no coincidence that Akamaru let out a series of high-pitched whines and barks the moment their gazes met, and Ino saw Kiba tense up.

"Hey, Hinata! Sasuke won't go easy on you because you're a girl!"

"Byakugan," was his answer. The girl's eyes erupted into her clan's famous dojutsu, and the Ino realized that Hinata was serious.

"Hey, if you don't want to, you don't have to…"

"S-Start it."

As Ino backed off, the instructor was hesitating, unsure of what to do. Hinata had always been one of those nice, quiet and shy kids that he tended to just leave alone out of mercy. Not to mention, Hinata had on one occasion burst out crying in the middle of a sparring session.

However, with the rationalization that it would be good for Hinata's development, he caved in, despite his apprehensiveness. Personally, he thought it would have been way better for Hinata to start with the weakest ones first and the move up the ranks, but he supposed the Hyuuga arrogance was finally manifesting itself in the frail girl.

"Alright. No weapons allowed. No active jutsu allowed. You are limited to taijutsu and passive chakra enhancement only. Begin."

Sasuke immediately took the stance of his clan's famed taijutsu style, and Hinata began to analyze his form. He was definitely a skilled ninja; his form left no openings, his body muscular, stronger, and his instincts notably more developed than hers. If she blocked head-on, his chakra-enhanced punches would send her to the ground, and then the match would be over.

That's why she was not going to let him hit her directly.

Sasuke sprung forward and attacked her, but she had already known he was coming. She saw the tensing of the muscle strands in the legs, the quickening of the heart, the release of adrenaline in the body, and the pinch of tenseness in his right arm.

_Dodge left!_

Hinata bent backwards to the left and the punch sailed millimeters away from her head. She saw the electrical synapses in the right hemisphere fire, and felt the twist of Sasuke's torso, signifying a left hand punch.

_Dodge right!_

The blow clipped her slim arm and sent her body jerking sideways, yet she managed to avoid the full brunt of the attack. Sasuke feinted with his left leg, but Hinata managed to see his telegraph in his right hand just as he attempted to punch her in the face.

With two arms, she barely redirected the blow as she shifted her body sideways, and nearly fell backwards towards the ground. She pedaled backwards to gain some space and looked up just in time to sidestep another blow to the face. This time, her blocking arm rebounded off the front of her face.

Pain obscured her vision again. Her arms shook with the strain. Sasuke aimed a kick towards her knees and she sprung backwards just in time to dodge it. However, she wasn't fast enough to avoid the uppercut into her abdomen.

She fell. Hinata felt the pump of adrenaline in her veins and the strain of battle affecting her body, her mind focused on the distant image of the blonde haired boy. Pain wracked her body, and she coughed into the ground.

She wasn't strong enough. All she did was retreat and dodge, and she hadn't even struck back once. It disgusted her, the concept of hitting someone. Makoto's treatment of her had sent her willingness to engage in taijutsu all the way down the drain.

But to achieve her goals, she made a promise. She made a promise to do anything to get him back. After all, if Makoto-sensei showed her no mercy, why should she?

"You're a disgusting excuse for a shinobi. You're weak."

And she should have given up. Her arms were numb with the pain of redirecting his blows.

But she glanced up and met his cold gaze head on. That gaze was so much like Makoto's, and she felt hatred fill up her body. She hated that glare, and she wanted to destroy it.

Her mind was disentangled. Her body was unclogged. And just like that, there was no hesitation now, and to get stronger, she had to do anything she could to win. All she could see right now was that Sasuke was an obstacle to the path she was on, and that defeating him would prove she was stronger.

She got up slowly, and she felt the whoosh of air as Sasuke aimed a punch at her head.

She ducked, and hit him back.

"Grk…!"

A chakra reinforced palm to Sasuke's jaw sent him stumbling rearwards, and Sasuke spun about into a crouch. If anything, Hinata's body language grew even more threatening now, and her prized kekkai genkai sharpened in focus. This only served to further Sasuke's desire to end her as soon as he could.

Without a sound, he moved forward and sent a powerful right punch. Hinata again spun backwards to redirect the punch, but with lightning speed, jabbed at Sasuke's face just as he was about to throw another haymaker. He kicked forward blindly and Hinata jumped backwards to avoid the blow, while he lunged forward.

Two jabs and Hinata struggled to block them. Sasuke's jabs were fast, and he was learning not to telegraph his moves now. Although Hinata could still predict what he could do through the heart rate and movement of blood flow, it was going to get harder to deal with.

She also had no space left, she realized. If she went out of the circle, she lost, but now, she was trapped. The gravel under her feet shifted, and she felt the gradual slope of the ground upwards towards the ridges of the circle.

It was now or never.

Time slowed as Sasuke's jab came straight to her face and without her thinking, her arm moved up inwards.

Before, Hinata would never have had the skills to parry a blow. But there was no hesitation now, and with the slightest of taps, Sasuke's punch was redirected sideways past her.

With five strikes, Hinata struck into the inside of Sasuke's guard along the intercostals nerves. One of them involved the 7th branch artery and vein. The other into the gallbladder, the 8th branch intercostals nerve. Then the waterway, the outer gate, and finally the camphorwood gate, the free end of the 11th floating rib.

She brought both her palms back and she slammed it with as much power as she could into Sasuke's abdomen.

"…Ugh!"

She watched as Sasuke fly backwards ten meters, and hit the ground with a thump. Akamaru gave a big whine and barked, as everyone in the clearing dissolved into deafening silence. Hinata on the other hand, could only stare at her trembling hands, blinking in a disorientated rhythm.

Always when Makoto had struck at her, she wondered what would happen if she struck back. What if she went all out and sent more than a few blows? What would it mean to be able to fight back? Up to now, she had no idea. After all, it was the first time she had ever struck at her full strength.

Even now, the whispers and looks of the crowd chipped away at her mental construct. Shocked looks sent her way froze her up.

But her heart was dead now. Her only path was towards that blonde-haired angel, the one who saved her three times. The one she was still obsessively looking for, by whom disappeared without a trace.

That's right, even if she had to kill…

She looked up, and saw Sasuke on his feet with a murderous look in his eyes. The clash of killing intent was stronger this time, and more poignant in the air.

"You're dead, bitch."

He moved swifter. Sasuke was much faster now. It was all Hinata could do to block his flurry of strikes. Even with the Byakugan, her body could hardly keep up with where he was aiming, and he was no longer aiming just for her head anymore.

Punches clipped at her body and her face. She tasted blood on her lips and felt pin-points of pain manifest itself in her body. However, Hinata was no slack either; indeed; chakra burns on Sasuke's arms and fists were getting more and more apparent.

In the midst of battle, Hinata had turned blocking into a deadly art.

A stoic persona jumped back and formed hand seals faster than the eyes could see. A tiger seal was brought up to the mouth that would blow a fireball meant to kill. Already the instructor was moving, knowing that things were going way out of hand. But Hinata did something no one expected.

Hinata _jumped through the fireball. _

Ino gave a strangled cry of horror as Hinata did so, and when she erupted out of the inferno, second and third degree burns forged on her body. However, Hinata gained one key advantage in the suicidal action, and it was surprise that allowed her to land a Juuken strike near Sasuke's heart.

Sasuke was lucky. The Juuken strike had missed the coronary artery by millimeters. However, Hinata wasn't finished, and Sasuke wasn't either.

A kunai or a Juuken strike to the throat. Which was faster?

Too bad they didn't find out, and the instructor caught both their arms just in time and knocked both of them out. Sasuke already had blood running from the mouth due to internal damage and Hinata's damage was horrifyingly extensive.

"Damn Damn Damn. Call a medic-nin!" His cries echoed across the clearing.

"MEDIC-NIN!"

….

Naruto hated parties. His grandfather would never have forced him to attend one, but under the guilty gaze of his caretaker, he couldn't just say no. Besides, his grandfather shouldn't be blaming himself for being busy anyways; Naruto could take care of himself without being coddled.

He also had ANBU on his side, by which were tailing him this very moment because of the high density of the crowds. Moving towards the Akimichi-Yamanaka-Nara compounds was starting to fray his nerves, and only the cooling seals on his clothes prevented him from bursting out off the stifling crowd in a panic.

He kind of insisted that he go alone, as his grandfather was very busy during this time of the year. And now, he was regretting it. He had forgotten how much of a big deal Konoha's anniversary was; to him, the day was just another time of the year with especially high amounts of paperwork.

Still, he persisted through the frustrating ordeal, praying behind his mask that the location he was reaching wasn't nearly as crowded as the population of Konoha. If not, Kami pray, he was going to use as many explosive seals as needed to blast his way out of this hell hole.

Eventually, he got to one of the unassuming gates of the three households. There was a squad of kotestsu-genin guarding the entrance, and Naruto approached them a bit hesitantly.

"Hey boy, this isn't a place for-"

Naruto flashed the identity card at the guard, who immediately stiffened and bowed to him. Immediately, Naruto disappeared from the crowded streets and the inner-walls of the compound greeted him as the gate closed behind him.

The zen gardens of the three households was enormous. Bonsai trees framed the surroundings, pools of water with stone bridges built over them were ubiquitous, candles and lamps framed the entire setting while the sound of drums and loud noises thronged in the air.

Candles on red plates were scattered across the bodies of water, and the land in-between the mini-lakes were decorated with vast tables of food. In his stuffy suit among the most prosperous of Konoha, Naruto felt completely out of place. Even so, he continued to wander around and watch the mass of people celebrate. And it wasn't long until he found himself on one of the stone bridges staring at the mesmerizing mass of candle light in the pools.

"My My! Shouldn't you be with the other kids young boy?"

Naruto perked up as he felt a strong hand rest upon his shoulder. The owner of the hand was a burly and big woman, almost like a matron.

_Um…_

"You must be one of the clan children! Come along, I'll bring you to the rest of the kids."

Naruto's attempts to sign or protest fell on deaf eyes no thanks to the crowd. Having no vocal chords made him seem even more powerless, and the woman simply dragged him through the crowds, who didn't even notice he was struggling. Clangs of instruments clashed over his head and laughter boomed over head, while Naruto resigned himself to being pulled along.

After all, if he was ever in trouble, he could just call for ANBU.

It wasn't until he realized what direction he was being pulled towards before he started to genuinely panic. The matron was taking him directly to the heart of the compound right into the main house of the clans.

Too late, he caught the site of the main clan families in the interior of the house, and the matron hadn't glanced back even once. It would also be really poor form to call in the ANBU in less than ten meters away from the house.

And thus with lack of fanfare, Naruto Uzumaki was pushed front first into a social conundrum he had no idea how to deal with.

People his own age.

…..

A/N: Holy mother fucking god! 11 reviews! That's the most feedback I've ever gotten. Wonder what I did right this time. *scratches head*

Thanks to all of you, especially to Ramen Knight and Aidis, who have supported me regularly this far. Thanks to Transcendent Oddity for pointing out my spelling mistakes and the two reviews who want me to use swear words less.

Also thanks for the two really long reviews from Asa Usa and D.C Anilai. I'm really grateful for the PMs and reviews. It makes me feel like I have a standard to keep up to. *cries* And thanks to lord amnesia for regularly coming back to read my crappy shit.

And uh… I'm well aware that Gyakkou no jutsu inflicts more than second or third degree burns, but you'll figure out why it is otherwise. You guys are smart.

Justification for why Hinata managed to fight up to a stalemate with Sasuke might be posted one day, if you guys really want it. I don't know about my fight scenes. Were they too fast? Too slow?

R&R?


	15. Challenge

Within the early hours of the night, the alliance of clan heads and consorts had spent the hours feasting outside. There were two tables, one bigger than the other, for the express purpose of segregating the adults and children. Chouji would have been in bliss with the amount of food placed in front of him, however, there was just one problem.

Ino and Kiba were fighting again.

Everyone knew that Ino and Kiba always seemed to bring out the worst out of each other, and this was reflected by how their combined intelligence seemed to dwindle down to dangerously low levels proportional to how long they were both in a two-mile radius. One time, Kiba had been stupid enough to break into Ino's lockers and ask Akamaru to do his business on Ino's gym clothes, and since then, both of them were forever banned from the lockers.

And there was the other time when Ino spiked Akamaru's dog food with LSD and Kiba's water with some obscure poisonous flower. _That _was one of the weirdest days ever seen in the academy and also caused a gigantic scandal that ended with Ino being force-fed the same flowers as punishment.

Even years later, Shikimaru still found himself surprised at the extremes the duo went to piss each other off. Next to him, Chouji sweated uncomfortably.

"Shouldn't we stop them?" Chouji asked, as Ino smashed a tea-cup over Kiba's head and a white dog dashed over and bit Ino in the foot. Not far away, Shino's bugs buzzed with irritation.

Shikimaru sighed as he withdrew a pinky from his ear.

"Don't worry. Ino isn't functionally retarded-"

Shikimaru ignored how Ino just shoved a plate of mash potatoes into Kiba's eyesright in front of her father and fifty other consorts.

"-most of the time."

A genjutsu later and both Ino and Kiba were both slumped on the ground twitching and moaning. Chouji simply looked relieved that the entire conundrum was over, while Shikimaru uttered a "troublesome" under his breath. Inoichi Yamanaka on the other hand, found himself standing over the two with a frown on his face.

"Ino, when we get home, we are going to have a talk. Kiba, "don't compare that filthy pig to a female dog you whore"is not a mature response to the word "bitch". Please refrain from further aggression, if not I will tell your mother."

The other fifty consorts composed of merchants, landowners, the wealthy, and so on and so forth, simply smiled with amusement while a handful shook their heads in disgust. Some outright laughed at the sight, and Shikimaru simply noted that they didn't have to deal with their feud on an everyday basis.

Really, it got less amusing and more worrying (not to mention sad) as time went on.

Inoichi Yamanaka, if only to save face, ended up herding all the children into the households in the middle. There was Shino from the insect clan, Chouji, himself, Ino, Kiba and a few other children from wealthy lands. The Uchicha and Hyuuga were not here for obvious reasons, as to them even the richest in Konoha was not fit to be in their presence. And then there was the heir from the Hiruzen household, who apparently died when he was five. The whole thing had been very hushed up from what he remembered.

Not that he cared anyway.

As usual, during the festival he simply sat around while Chouji stuffed his face with food on the tables. The other children were a bit more polite with their utensils, while Kiba and Ino were simply the most disgusting eaters at the table.

Thus, it was a surprise to see a new boy being brought inside.

He was short and slim, with a white mask over his face. He was very nervous looking as well, which was conveyed by his jumpy posture.

"Hey Kids! We have a boy here!"

A few glanced up, Kiba and Ino didn't stop their off-hand jabs at each other, but for the most part nobody cared. The only constant people that came to their hosted festival was the clan children in Konoha excluding the Uchicha and Hyuuga, and the boy could have been the son of an obscure merchant for all he knew.

The boy ended up sitting in the corner, not touching anything.

Chouji ended up being really bothered by this.

"Shikimaru…he's not eating _anything._"

"Gee, I can't see," Shikimaru replied in a bored tone.

"You don't get it. My mom made this food. It's a crime for people not to eat it."

Yes, it was true that Chouji's mom was one of the best cooks in Konoha. So it was a little peculiar, so what?

"Your mom didn't make all this food. And besides, he probably already ate."

"But still…mother's food is the best no matter how full you are…_" _

Shikimaru sighed; only Chouji would get all that worked up about food. But then again, good food was basically the philosophy of the Akimichi clan, so he shouldn't have expected otherwise. It was basically the driving force of Chouji attempting to approach the boy. Otherwise, the normally gentle and laid-back boy would have sat back and let things run his course.

Shikimaru found himself distantly shuffling around to watch; out of harm's way but still in a position to help. Chouji was a sensitive guy, and used to get bullied a lot because of his weight. Somehow, he doubted that Chouji was approaching the new boy just for food.

"Hey…"

The surprised boy half startled in to a taijutsu stance that Shikimaru didn't recognize. He was a ninja? He was a ninja influential enough to be allowed into the compound? Sure, there were other ways to become a ninja, but those were much more risky and illegal than the prestigious establishment of the Konoha academy. Any person rich enough to be allowed in to his (or their) compound was definitely rich enough to enter the academy…unless one was being taught by far better teachers.

It was an interesting thought that Shikimaru filed away for later reference.

The boy apologetically lowered his arms and looked sheepishly to the side while he bowed constantly. Chouji was in a panic.

"Hey, hey…there's no need to bow. There's no need to bow."

Soon, the duo was gathering attention as even Kiba and Ino were stopping their arguments to send a curious glance their way. A few mutterings occurred within the other merchant kids at the sight and Shikimaru found himself interfering to help out a little bit.

"Troublesome," he sighed.

It wasn't his first time dealing with socially awkward kids though.

…..

"So you're mute huh?"

The trio found themselves sitting on the barrels and crates outside and watching the festival from the elevated platform of the pagoda. Every now and then, Shikimaru would send a stone skipping through the lake just meters away from them, while Chouji munched on an apple.

Idle conversation preceded idle conversation, but for the most part, they were content watching the festival. Periodically, fireworks were launched into the air while they gazed at the lanterns that adorned the bridges. Truly, Konoha deserved the reputation as the fire country, despite their green leaves. It was one of the many observations Shikimaru made…

_So what's the academy like?_

Shikimaru perked up with interest. So this boy was curious about the academy? How…interestingly troublesome.

"It's pretty boring most of the time. We don't really do much, but the things we do are troublesome."

_Ah…_

"Why don't you enter the academy?"

For a brief moment, Shikimaru thought he felt a drastic change in body language in the new individual's composure. Shikimaru couldn't help but notice the abrupt clench of fists and falter of breathing.

…_I don't really belong there. Do you know about a blue-haired girl?_

"You mean the Hyuuga heiress?"

…_Yeah._

There was something unsettling about the way he framed the question. Not to mention the fact that it was one of the hottest topics in the academy now. Chouji let out an involuntary shudder.

"That's a really sensitive topic right now," Chouji whispered.

There was the abrupt change in body posture again.

_Why?_

"I don't know. But there's a rumor going around all the clans that she was abused…I shouldn't say too much. But there's a big red flag that shows the whole world that something is wrong with the Hyuuga clan, not to mention how Hinata is coping…"

_What do you mean?_

"She's changed," Shikimaru interjected. "I remember she was really shy and cute. Everyone stayed away from her because of her father, but other than that, we kind of forgot about her over the years. At least until the fight."

Chouji winced at that.

"It was pretty horrible. Half-way through the fight I think they were aiming to kill each other. I don't know. Ino didn't exactly take it well."

That was an understatement. Out of the three of them, Ino had made the most effort to secretly look out for the girl. Not that they did much; they often forgot about her. But they were regretting it now, and Ino just… spiraled down.

She was getting a little better about it now, at least her feud with Kiba was resuming.

The silence that ensued afterwards was no longer what it originally was. Moments ago, Naruto was the one fidgeting endlessly among two apathetic people. Now, Naruto was the one in ice-cold silence while agitation started to grind into Chouji and Shikimaru.

_What happened? What's with the fight? _Naruto finally gestured.

"Everyone knows about it. I'm surprised you don't."

More ice-cold silence; Chouji found himself getting more and more unnerved. Shikimaru found himself getting more and more calculative, while his voice droned on.

"It happened two months ago, and it started with Hinata challenging the best taijutsu-user to a fight. He didn't seem to take it seriously at first; until Hinata struck at pressure-points…I think they were torture points."

"Then he got really mad, and went all out. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary; it wasn't the first time he pushed himself to his limits, though it was the first time in a long time. It wasn't until he started a jutsu that the teacher started to interfere, and he blew this big fireball out of his mouth."

"Hinata jumped through it; I think that she was aiming to kill him via a strike to the heart. She missed, and then the teacher got involved. At that time, they were halfway in following through a killing strike. It was a really big shock for all of us."

_Who was the fight with?_

"It was with the best rookie in the class. Everyone calls him a genius; he's Sasuke, the last Uchicha of his clan."

_I see._

The silence was almost unbearable now, and this time Chouji was slightly, but visibly fidgeting. Half-way through the next batch of fireworks, Naruto stood up suddenly, hands poised in ANBU sign language.

_Where's the bathroom?_

"Down the hallway to your left."

Naruto left, walking down to the bathroom. The further he got away from the two, the more he rushed. Finally, he reached the isolated room.

The moment the door closed behind him, his silent demeanor erupted into a series of choking breaths and self-hatred as he banged futilely on the floor. Killing intent roared into the room, projecting a cloud of tremors. He banged futilely against the wall.

_The Uchicha! They're always…! THEY'RE ALWAYS TAKING EVERYTHING AWAY-_

_She's not even yours to begin with. Didn't you leave her? She doesn't deserve you, and you don't even care about her you cold-blooded monster._

It was like a bucket of cold water thrown over him, and Naruto suppressed the boiling anger and the mindless worry clouding his mind. Thoughts of further questions about Hinata were forced out. Without caring about the prospect of knowing how Hinata was doing, Naruto's breathing got a little better. His heart rate began to slow.

_That's right. I don't care about her, I don't like her. Why should I be bothered if she lived or died? _

_That's right. It's better that way._

The youki buzzing under his skin irritated him, as well as the anger.

_Behave, Kyuubi. _

The killing intent did not diminish.

_I said behave!_

Killing intent contracted until it disappeared altogether, leaving Naruto an empty, coughing husk. The tell-tale swish of ANBU robes alerted Naruto to their presence, no doubt summoned here by the acting up of his youki-tainted blood.

"Naruto-sama. Your seal summoned the earliest squad to your presence."

_I'm fine, _he gestured off-handedly._ Just…send me home._

"Hai, Naruto-sama."

Thirty minutes later, a worried Chouji entered the bathroom, searching for the masked boy. Meanwhile, Shikimaru trailed behind with a ponderous expression, clearly in the throes of frenzied deduction.

"Chouji, did you know? That boy was the Kyuubi's container."

…

Mitarashi Anko wasn't exactly having the best of days. Of course, it wasn't bad either; it just didn't go exactly as she planned.

She never was a cautious person anyway.

Hinata Hyuuga hm? Hinata had been a powerful subject of interest within the academy walls, and secret psychological evaluations had been done behind Hiashi's back. Unlike what most people thought, the academy was a place chock full of political manipulation and interest, and everyone wanted a slice of the pie.

They were talking about the next generation of clan heads after all. Even the kids themselves weren't immune, if the clamoring over Uchicha Sasuke was any indication. Uchicha Sasuke had no overbearing parents to restrict marriage (clan heads tended to place ridiculous restrictions and regulations on this, let alone inheritance), had no relatives to share property with, and owned an entire district of Konoha. Now, even the most prominent of clan heirs were busting their assholes out to marry the damn emo bitch, and the lowlife civilians were especially aggressive about it.

Hyuuga Hinata had also been vaulted into the same position, suddenly displaying unnerving skill. There was talk about reinstating her as clan heir, ever since she fought Sasuke Uchicha to a stand-still. Anko snorted at this; if Sasuke had gone all out at the beginning, the pathetic heiress would never have landed those five pressure-point strikes and she would have been taken out like a lowly kitten.

Still, there was some merit to her skills considering that her scores in the academy had sky-rocketed. Especially in taijutsu; from what Anko saw, she was third or maybe even second best. Too bad Sasuke and Hinata had been kept away from each other at all costs. Pah! Let those little fuckwits strike it out and kill each other, so that Anko could chalk up another death to Darwin.

Hinata did garner a lot of her interest though.

"Did you see how she beat Kiba?"

"Bah, Sasuke's better. But she's pretty good."

"Pretty good? She's really good! I think I'm lesbian over her!"

Anko rolled her eyes, and melted back into the shadows. Information gathering over a classmate was often the hardest to do because of how suggestive children could be and also how stupid children could be. Man, if it wasn't for the pay, she wouldn't be doing this shitty job.

Anyway, the academy hours were boring. Even she felt herself falling asleep at how the teachers somehow made every lecture so slow it was almost like they were going backwards. So far, the first day of her new job fucking sucked.

Oh well, she only had to do a week of this and report to her client; a creepy old man wrapped with bandages. She kept one eye on the blue-haired bitch.

Damn Hyuuga bastards. Think they're so high and mighty. This girl wasn't all that different, and Anko couldn't care less.

"Wake me up when school ends," she told a snake summon.

For the rest of the academy hours, she slept upside down like most ANBU learned to do. She was one of the lucky ones with summons; most ANBU had to sleep really lightly.

Eventually, Anko found herself following the girl out of school, most probably going to the den of bastards where she belonged.

She didn't.

She went the opposite way.

There was a long winding road uphill. Anko blinked; why was she going to the abandoned academy that was used before the second great shinobi war? Still, Hinata proceeded to gracefully move past the creaky gate, towards the training ground at the back of the discrepant building.

The girl took off her shoes as she moved towards one of the big oak trees in the area; Anko noted a lot of burn marks along the girth of the tree. For four hours, Anko watched as Hinata struck with every part of her body (forearms, elbows, feet, hands) and visible chakra burns manifested themselves all over her arms and the tree.

After four hours, it looked more like the girl was beating the crap out of herself, and every sign pointed towards this being a daily ritual.

Blood flew as the girl struck with her bare knuckles. The red substance frayed across her skin. Anko noted that her arms didn't have any visible scars, until she realized that the Hyuuga had really good medic-nins.

So _that _was how a clan heir could be abused without anyone finding out. And here she thought that the whole thing was bullshit. Anko found herself growling at the training method though; didn't the idiot know that she was potentially damaging her arms permanently? She found herself intervening.

"That's not the right way to train," she stated as she caught Hinata's arm just before she threw another punch.

She ducked under a Juuken strike aimed at her head.

"Feisty aren't you?"

"Y-You sh-shouldn't be h-here." The girl's eyes were sharp. "I-If you d-don't g-go away, I-I'll kill you."

"Really?"

Anko smiled. She took that as a challenge.

…

A/N: Wow, thanks for the support last chapter. I can't believe it took me so long to get the next chapter done but oh well.

Really sick right now, bad case of runny eyes, nose, stomach ache and headache. Had it for the entire week. Wish I could individually thank everyone for the reviews, but I'm just so damn tired.

Transition chapters are kind of meh to me. I'm working towards a powerful resolution that will relieve Naruto of all his goddamn angst, but it won't come until a few more chapters.

Uh…R&R?


End file.
